UC-NRLF 


^B   2fi4    ab5 


^MIP 

Jc/fft-^  , 

''pw^^M 

fcuiruf^Bh 

r^\^^^^^^ 

Bn^'^^k  '^ 

H^L^^^^^^^^^^^^^^I 

£.-• 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/childculturehandOOriddrich 


CHILD    CULTURE 


A  HAND-BOOK  FOR  PARENTS  AND 
TEACHERS,  TELLING  HOW  TO  USE 
MENTAL  SUGGESTION  AND  CHRIS- 
TIAN TEACHING  IN  MIND  TRAINING, 
FAMILY  GOVERNMENT  AND  CHAR- 
ACTER BUILDING. 


By 

NEWTON  N.  RIDDELL 

Author  of  "Methods  of  Attainment,'* 
"Service  and  Bible  Study,"  "Heredity 
and  Pre-Natal  Culture,"  "The  Psychology 
of  Success,"  "The  New  Man,"  etc.,  etc. 


Rewritten   1915 


THE    RIDDELL    PUBLISHERS 

Mailing  Department 

7522  Garrison  Ave.,  Chicago,  IlL 


Copyright^  1915 

BY 

NEWTON  N.  RIDDELL 


All  Rights  Reserved 


CONTENTS 


I.    GENERAL  OBSERVATIONS 

Page 

Introduction  7 

View- Point  and  Purpose 8 

Old  and  New  Ideals 9 

Education  and  Ethics n 

Work  and  Growth 12 

Pre-Natal  Education 14 

Heredity  and  Environment 15 

Ontogenesis  and  Philogenesis 16 

Variations  in  Development 17 

Traits  Peculiar  to  Age 19 

Character  and  Efficiency 24 

II.  NEURONS  AND  HABITS 

Basic  Facts 26 

Habit  and  Character 28 

Habit   Formation 29 

Habit  by  Doing 30 

Corrective  Habits 31 

Habit  and  Training 32 

Explain  to  Children 34 

Play  and  Habit 36 

Habit    Drills 36 

III.  MENTAL  SUGGESTION 

Suggestion  Explained 38 

Mind  Processes 40 

1 


355465 


4  Contents 

Page 

Science  of  Suggestion 41 

Suggestion    Applied , 43 

Aggressive  Goodness 45 

Limitations  of  Suggestion 45 

Truth  and  Suggestion 46 

Prefixing  Character 47 

A  Practical  Experiment 48 

The   Montessori   Method 49 

The  Art  of  Teaching 50 

Perceptive  Training 51 

Memory  Through  Association 52 

Learning  to  Think 53 

IV.    GRACE  AND  GROWTH 

Godless  Ethics 55 

Knowledge   Insufficient 56 

Baby    Christians 57 

Creative  Processes 58 

Divine   Grace 60 

Obedience  and  Progress 63 

Love  and  Obedience 64 

Conscience  and  Obedience 66 

Perverting  Children 67 

The  Better  Way 68 

Corporal   Punishment 70 

Love  Never  Fails 73 

Family    Devotion 74 

V.    LITTLE  LESSONS 

Self-Examination    y6 

Individual   Peculiarities 77 

A  Fundamental  Law 78 

Silent  Influences 78 

Partiality   79 


Contents  5 

Page 

Parental  Authority 80 

Children's   Rights 81 

Encouraging    Decision 81 

Self-Government    83 

Scolding  and  Threatening 84 

The  Black  Man 85 

A  Willful  Child 86 

Teachers  and  Governesses 88 

Parental    Duty 89 

The  Lost  Boy 90 

Young  People's  Problems 91 

VI.    SPECIAL  DIRECTIONS 

Introduction   96 

Food  and  Growth 97 

Food  and  Character 98 

Medicine  and  Children 99 

Physical    Reactions 99 

Physical  Hygiene loi 

Moral  Hygiene 102 

Energy  and  Activity 103 

Frugal  Habits 104 

Self-Respect 105 

Sensitiveness   105 

Self- Protection   106 

Forethought  107 

Self-Sufficiency     107 

Expression    108 

Imagination    109 

The  Affections 109 

Good  Manners no 

The  Sense  of  Honor ....in 

Kindness  and  Forgiveness 112 

Love's  Way  to  Victory 113 

Personal    Purity 115 


FOREWORD 

Fifteen  short  progressive  years  have 
come  and  gone  since  the  first  edition  of 
this  little  book  was  sent  out  on  its  mission 
of  love  and  service.  Within  two  years 
from  the  date  of  its  publication  the  Author 
received  hundreds  of  letters  from  educa- 
tors, social  reformers,  parents  and  teachers 
expressing  their  approval  and  prediction  of 
the  good  it  was  to  accomplish.  Nearly  all 
of  the  principal  educational  journals,  and 
scores  of  magazines  and  cosmopolitan 
dailies,  gave  commendatory  reviews.  Since 
then  it  has  found  its  way  into  more  than 
one  hundred  thousand  homes  and  school- 
rooms. The  many  expressions  of  gratitude 
from  parents  and  teachers  indicate  that  it 
has  accomplished  some  of  the  work  pre- 
dicted for  it.  But  the  progress  in  child 
psychology  and  pedagogy,  the  application  of 
mental  suggestion  to  mind  and  character 
building,  and  the  proven  capacity  and  re- 
sponsiveness of  young  children  to  religious 
teaching  and  Divine  grace  require  the  writ- 
ing of  a  new  book  with  the  addition  of  much 
important  matter.  That  the  new  book  may 
prove  even  more  helpful  than  the  old,  and 
be  used  of  God  in  bringing  the  blessing  of 
Jesus  Christ  to  many  children,  is  the  cher- 
ished hope  and  earnest  prayer  of  its  Author. 
Faithfully, 

N.  N.  R. 


CHILD  CULTURE 


GENERAL  OBSERVATIONS 
Introduction 

Divine  grace  and  applied  psychology 
make  possible  the  development  of  every 
normal  child  into  a  strong,  harmonious, 
self-respecting,  moral  character.  Ex- 
periments prove  that  subnormal  and 
abnormal  children  can  be  greatly  im- 
proved by  special  training,  during  the 
first  seven  years.  Most  bad  boys  and 
girls,  delinquent  youths,  and  even  adult 
criminals,  are  the  product  of  defective 
pre-natal  and  post-natal  training.  Few 
persons  educate  for  parenthood.  A 
woman  will  study  for  years  to  become 
proficient  in  some  art.  A  man  will  at- 
tend an  agricultural  college  and  read  a 
score  of  books  and  periodicals  on  stock- 
raising.  Then  these  two  will  marry 
and  presume  to  raise  a  family  without 
7 


8  Child  Culture 

either  having  read  a  book  on  heredity 
or  child  training.  Results:  fine  art, 
poultry,  pigs  and  cattle ;  but  puny,  sub- 
normal and  delinquent  children.  For- 
tunately, a  great  awakening  has  come. 
Scientists  and  sociologists  are  demand- 
ing that  children  shall  be  better  born. 
Thousands  of  thoughtful  parents  are 
responding.  Child  nature  is  being 
studied  as  never  before.  The  seed  sown 
by  Seguin,  Froebel,  Locke,  Spencer, 
Wundt,  James,  Hall  and  others  is  pro- 
ducing an  abundant  harvest.  Child 
psychology  and  pedagogy  have  taken 
first  place  in  the  minds  of  teachers. 
The  Montessori  method  promises  to 
revolutionize  primary  education.  The 
up-to-date  Sunday  school  is  translating 
the  Gospel  into  character.  Soon  these 
combined  efforts  must  produce  a  su- 
perior childhood. 

Viewpoint  and  Purpose 

Jesus  said,  ''Suffer  little  children  to 
come  unto  me,  and  forbid  them  not: 
for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  God.'' 
Evidently  He  saw  a  spiritual  element  in 
the  child  that  many  psychologists  and 
child-culturists  fail  to  recognize.  In 
our  studies  we  shall  try  to  see  the  child 


General  Observations  9 

as  Jesus  saw  it.  We  shall  avoid  tech- 
nicalities and  the  discussion  of  theories 
and  systems  because  we  want  to  confine 
these  heart  talks  to  simple,  concise 
statements  of  facts  and  methods  for 
daily  use  in  the  home  and  in  the  school- 
room. Thirty  years  of  psychological 
research,  and  the  personal  study  of 
over  ten  thousand  children,  including 
all  classes  and  conditions,  have  given 
the  Author  some  pronounced  views 
concerning  child  nature  and  its  devel- 
opment. 

Old  and  New  Ideals 

The  old  idea  of  child  training  was 
largely  corrective :  the  new  idea  is  dis- 
tinctively constructive.  The  key-note 
of  the  old  was  reformation:  the  key- 
note of  the  new  is  right  formation.  The 
old  stood  for  control,  restraint,  sup- 
pression: the  new  stands  for  liberty, 
direction,  expression.  The  old  con- 
sisted mostly  of  prohibitory  "dont's" : 
the  new  is  composed  of  intelligent 
"do's."  The  old  aimed  at  govern- 
ment from  without:  the  new  insists 
on  government  from  within.  The  old 
treated  faults  as  something  to  be  cor- 
rected by  punishment:   the  new  over- 


10  Child  Culture 

comes  faults  by  the  development  of 
counteractive  virtues.  The  old  allowed 
the  child  to  grow  up  according  to  its 
inherent  disposition,  except  when  it 
violated  some  law :  the  new  aims  to  so 
awaken  and  train  the  elements  that 
make  for  right  conduct  that  the  child 
will  not  willfully  violate  law.  The  old 
said,  *'What  is  bred  in  the  bone  cannot 
be  corrected" :  the  new  recognizes  the 
stability  of  inherent  tendencies,  but  has 
methods  for  their  modification.  The 
old  assumed  that  the  child  has  innate, 
savage  proclivities  that  must  be  eradi- 
cated :  the  new  insists  that  every  nor- 
mal impulse  in  a  child  is  a  force  that 
only  needs  directing  to  become  poten- 
tial in  right  conduct.  The  old  deemed 
it  necessary  to  "break  the  will,"  and 
compel  submissive  obedience :  the  new 
seeks  to  develop  a  strong  will  and  to 
gain  obedience  from  right  motives. 
The  old  assumed  that  all  children  could 
be  governed  by  the  same  methods :  the 
new  considers  every  child  a  unique 
problem  requiring  training  adapted  to 
its  peculiarities.  The  old  system  of 
primary  education  compelled  the  child 
to  memorize  its  lessons  whether  or  not 
it  had  interest  in  them,  or  understand- 
ing :  the  new  seeks  first  to  awaken  in- 


General  Observations  11 

terest  and  create  a  desire  for  knowl- 
edge; then,  by  feeding  this  desire,  to 
store  the  mind  with  assimilated  knowl- 
edge, and  develop  faculties  for  future 
use.  The  old  idea  makes  intellectual 
training  the  goal  of  education :  the  new 
will  make  personal  efficiency  and  char- 
acter building  the  great  essential,  and 
righteous  living  the  measure  of  culture. 

Education  and  Ethics 

In  1907  President  G.  Stanley  Hall, 
speaking  to  an  assembly  of  teachers, 
said,  "The  American  public  school  sys- 
tem is  the  most  extensive,  the  most  ex- 
pensive, the  best  equipped,  but  the  least 
effective  morally  of  any  public  school 
system  in  the  world.''  Why?  Because 
intellectual  training  alone  does  not  pro- 
duce righteous  impulses.  Character 
springs  mainly  from  conscience,  the 
emotions,  the  sentiments  and  the  will, 
none  of  which  receive  special  training 
under  the  present  regime.  Moral  delin- 
quents graduate  with  honor  from  pub- 
lic schools  and  universities.  This 
should  not  be  possible.  There  is  an  im- 
perative demand  for  a  public  school 
curriculum  that  will  include  social  eth- 
ics,  character   building   and   religious 


12  Child  Culture 

training.  This  change  is  necessary  not 
only  for  the  good  of  the  individual  and 
the  home,  but  for  the  protection  of  so- 
ciety and  the  state.  No  commonwealth 
can  long  maintain  law  and  order,  that 
neglects  the  moral  training  of  its  youth : 
no  republic  can  long  survive  whose  citi- 
zens lack  faith  in  God. 

Work  and  Growth 

*'If  any  will  not  work  neither  let  him 
eat."  This  is  wisdom.  Growth  de- 
mands action.  Doing  is  a  way  of  be- 
coming. Throughout  all  nature  the 
struggle  for  existence  is  the  law  of  de- 
velopment and  continuity  of  species. 
When  this  necessity  is  removed  from 
any  species,  weakness  and  extinction 
follow.  Any  law  or  custom  that  denies 
to  children  the  opportunity  of  some 
regular  work  must  prove  harmful.  All 
work  and  no  play  is  bad;  but  all  play 
and  no  work  is  worse.  The  men  and 
women  who  have  made  history,  and 
those  of  the  present  generation  who 
are  bringing  things  to  pass,  were  not 
idle  in  youth.  Children  deficient  in 
energy,  who  do  not  have  to  work,  be- 
come lazy  mollycoddles  willing  to  live 
from  the  earnings  of  others.  Those 
that  are  energetic  but  unemployed  dis- 


General  Observations  13 

sipate  their  forces  in  sports  and  vices. 
Idleness  is  fast  becoming  the  greatest 
foe  of  American  youth.  Educators 
and  law-makers  should  cooperate  with 
industrial  leaders  to  provide  suitable, 
wholesome  employment  a  part  of  each 
day  for  every  child.  Work  and  study 
should  go  together,  and  be  so  adjusted 
as  to  produce  a  harmonious  develop- 
ment of  body  and  mind.  Knozving 
should  always  include  a  trained  ca- 
pacity for  doing.  Graduates  should  be 
equipped  for  some  worthy  vocation. 
Manual  and  industrial  training  should 
begin  in  the  kindergarten  and  continue 
until  graduation.  Pupils  should  early 
become  producers,  and  receive  sufficient 
compensation  to  excite  interest  and 
encourage  skill.  Public  schools  should 
be  made  largely  self-supporting  through 
the  labor  of  pupils.  This  idea  put  into 
practive  would  practically  eliminate 
idleness  and  all  its  attendant  evils.  It 
would  double  the  earning  power  of 
most  families  and  make  children  partly 
self-supporting.  It  would  greatly  in- 
crease personal  efficiency,  self-reliance 
and  independence.  It  would  produce  a 
superior  manhood  and  womanhood, 
promote  social  and  industrial  equality, 
and  foster  true  democracy. 


14  Child  Culture 

Pre-Natal  Education 

The  education  of  a  child  should  be- 
gin with  its  parents.  The  most  effect- 
ive time  for  influencing  the  physical, 
mental,  emotional  and  moral  tenden- 
cies in  a  child  is  before  its  birth. 
Prospective  parents  should  prepare  for 
this  sacred  privilege  by  such  physical 
training  and  hygienic  living  as  are 
necessary  to  establish  health  and  vigor 
of  body  and  mind.  They  should  be  in 
perfect  harmony.  They  should  pursue 
such  lines  of  study  and  mental  activities 
as  will  tend  to  awaken  latent  powers, 
strengthen  those  that  are  weak  and  in- 
hibit those  that  are  too  strong.  Ex- 
periments prove  that  external  stimuli 
are  registered  in  the  nervous  system  of 
the  unborn  child.  Brain-cells  are  most 
susceptible  to  impressions  during  their 
formative  period.  No  amount  of  post- 
natal training  can  more  than  modify 
inherent  tendencies.  A  nature  that  is 
formed  aright  tends  to  continue  in  a 
right  course  by  the  momentum  of  its 
heredity.  Vice  tendencies  wrought 
into  the  soul  make  virtue  and  goodness 
difficult.  Three  months  of  wise  pre- 
natal training  will  do  more  to  deter- 
mine the  natural  possibilities  and  ten- 


General  Observations  15 

dencies  of  a  child  than  three  years  in 
school  after  the  age  of  fourteen.* 

Heredity  and  Environment 

Dr.  Charles  Eliott,  president  emeri- 
tus of  Harvard,  says,  "As  between 
heredity  and  environment  in  the  for- 
mation of  a  boy's  character,  heredity 
is  the  more  potential."  This  is  the 
statement  of  a  general  rule  to  which 
there  are  many  exceptions.  Some 
children  seem  to  have  no  fixed  bent, 
and  are  largely  controlled  by  environ- 
ment. Others  are  so  dominated  by 
inherent  tendencies  that  no  ordinary 
influence  will  greatly  modify  them. 
Most  children  are  a  mixture  of  these 
two  extremes,  and  are  therefore  sus- 
ceptible and  responsive  in  some  quali- 
ties and  strong  and  persistent  in  others. 
Since  both  heredity  and  environment 
are  inevitable,  and  one  cannot  take  the 
place  of  the  other,  it  is  irrational  to 
say  that  either  is  the  more  important. 
Hereditary  and  pre-natal  conditions 
supply  and  determine  natural  tend- 
encies;   environmental    influences    de- 


*  See  "Preparation  for  Parenthood,"  in 
the  Author's  work  on  "Heredity  and  Pre- 
Natal  Culture." 


16  Child  Culture 

velop,  direct  and  alter  them.  The 
well-born  child  may  become  a  crim- 
inal through  bad  environment;  while 
one  that  is  hereditarily  bad,  by  proper 
training  from  infancy,  can  usually  be 
developed  into  a  moral  character.  But 
the  fact  that  one  of  these  forces  may 
overcome  the  other  is  no  excuse  for 
neglecting  or  minifying  the  importance 
of  either. 

Ontogenesis   and   Philogenesis 

Science  tells  us  that  ontogenesis,  the 
development  of  the  individual,  repre- 
sents a  curtailed  repetition  of  phylo- 
genesis, or  the  development  of  the 
race.  Therefore,  we  should  expect  the 
child  in  its  growth  from  inception  to 
maturity  to  repeat  in  a  measure  the 
traits  of  mind  and  character  that  have 
obtained  in  the  race  at  different  stages 
of  its  history.  But  under  the  law  of 
elimination  by  disuse  and  ac(4uisition 
by  use,  much  that  belonged  to  primi- 
tive man  has  been  entirely  eradicated, 
and  therefore  does  not  recur;  while 
that  which  represents  the  more  recent 
history  of  our  race  supplies  the  prin- 
cipal elements.  Accepted  science,  fail- 
ing to  apprehend  the  spiritual  nature 


General  Observations  17 

of  pre-degenerate  man,  fails  to  per- 
ceive its  correspondence  in  the  child. 
But  the  guilelessness,  and  responsive- 
ness of  baby-nature  to  Divine  love, 
reveal  a  kinship  to  those  dwellers  in 
Eden  who  communed  with  God. 

Variations  in  Development 

The  order  of  development  varies 
with  individuals.  Even  among  normal 
children  of  the  same  family,  there  is 
a  marked  difference  in  the  age  and 
in  the  way  in  which  the  several  ele- 
ments of  mind  and  character  come  in- 
to expression.  The  musical  faculty, 
when  of  average  strength,  invariably 
becomes  active  before  the  age  of  seven. 
It  is  said  that  no  one  ever  became 
a  great  musician  that  did  not  begin 
training  before  that  age.  But  other 
elements,  such  as  the  mathematical  fac- 
ulty, certain  emotions,  and  the  higher 
moral  sentiments,  even  when  inherently 
strong,  may  be  manifested  before  the 
age  of  five,  or  not  until  adolescence  or 
later.  A  boy  of  good  family  may  lie, 
steal,  cheat,  or  be  cruel,  and  show 
no  sense  of  reverence,  kindness,  or 
even  justice,  simply  because  his  moral 
sentiments  are  still  passive.    But  when 


18  Child  Culture 

these  are  awakened,  the  lawless  pro- 
pensities are  brought  under  control,  re- 
sulting in  a  complete  change  of  disposi- 
tion. Thus  character  transformations 
are  ever  taking  place  in  the  developing 
child  by  the  influence  of  awakening 
powers.  From  this  we  are  not  to  con- 
clude that  early  delinquencies  should 
be  ignored,  or  that  there  is  no  press- 
ing need  for  correction;  but  it  does 
teach  us  that  the  character  revealed 
in  youth  is  not  an  infallible  index  to 
the  future  man  or  woman. 

In  the  natural  order  of  mental  de- 
velopment, the  infant  first  perceives. 
Repeated  perceptions  establish  mem- 
ory. What  it  perceives  and  holds  in 
memory  awakens  thought.  Thinking 
develops  the  capacity  to  reason.  When 
it  has  learned  to  reason  about  known 
phenomena  and  the  things  it  has  per- 
ceived and  remembered,  it  comes  to 
create  and  imagine  that  which  it  has 
not  perceived.  Thus  the  intellect  de- 
velops from  simple  perception  to  the 
genius  of  imagination  and  creative 
fancy.  But  there  are  many  exceptions 
to  this  rule.  Some  young  children  lack 
perceptive  power,  but  want  to  know  the 
how,  why  and  wherefore  of  every- 
thing.    Again,  some  elements  of  per- 


General  Observations  19 

ception  may  be  more  active  than  others. 
The  child  that  readily  perceives  word- 
forms  may  fail  in  the  perception  of 
color,  size,  or  proportion.  In  mental 
development  unexpected  changes  are 
ever  appearing.  The  mathematical 
prodigy  may  fall  below  average  after 
maturity.  Unusual  precocity  is  no  as- 
surance of  sustained  superiority,  but 
rather  a  foreshadowing  of  premature 
senility.  Likewise,  dullness  in  infancy 
does  not  necessarily  signify  native  in- 
capacity. Many  men  of  genius  were 
backward  students  in  boyhood.  These 
and  similar  facts  prove  the  necessity 
of  individualization,  and  reveal  the  fal- 
lacy of  the  old  inflexible  system  of  edu- 
cation, which  tried  to  fit  every  child 
into  a  fixed  mould  and  compel  all  to 
measure  up  to  a  certain  standard. 

Traits  Peculiar  to  Age 

For  convenience  of  study,  psycholo- 
gists divide  the  time  from  birth  to  ma- 
turity into  three  periods  of  seven  years 
each.  The  first  period  is  the  one  of 
greatest  susceptibility.  It  predeter- 
mines all  subsequent  tendencies,  and 
is,  therefore,  of  the  utmost  importance. 
During  this  period  the  instincts  of  self- 


20  Child  Culture 

preservation  come  into  activity.  Hab- 
its of  physical  co-ordination,  self-con- 
trol, and  all  rudimentary  tendencies  of 
mind  and  character  take  form.  Motor, 
sensory,  and  mental  nerve-paths  are 
established.  But  with  this  awakening 
of  the  instincts  of  self-preservation 
there  is  also  a  spontaneous  expression 
of  the  higher  nature,  which  gives,  the 
capacity  to  accept  spiritual  teaching 
and  receive  Divine  life.  Therefore,  it 
is  at  this  time,  and  the  earlier  the  bet- 
ter, that  every  child  should  be  brought 
by  precept  and  teaching  into  a  loving, 
trusting,  vital  relationship  with  Jesus 
Christ.  This  definite  Christian  experi- 
ence, this  new  birth,  is  essential  to  all 
right  formation.  Christ  in  the  heart 
becomes  the  spring-source  of  pure  mo- 
tives, from  which  come  all  virtues, 
goodness  and  righteousness.  Entrance 
into  this  experience  does  not  require 
deep  understanding,  or  maturity  of 
judgment,  but  love,  faith  and  obedi- 
ence— qualities  natural  to  the  baby. 
For  this  reason  young  children  meet 
the  conditions  of  the  new  birth  easier 
than  do  adults.  It  is  a  grave  mistake 
for  Christian  parents  to  postpone  this 
all-important  event  to  a  time  when  sin 
has  entered  a  child's  heart.     Of  this 


General  Observations  21 

Christian  experience  in  babies  as  the 
true  foundation  for  character  building, 
we  shall  have  more  to  say  later. 

The  second  period  is  the  age  of  ac- 
cepted accountability,  the  time  when 
all  receive  and  violate  law,  the  period 
when  appetite  and  desire,  sex  emotions, 
hyper-sensitiveness,  egotism,  selfish- 
ness and  imprudence  come  into  expres- 
sion. As  the  first  period  had  in  it  a 
semblance  of  the  innocence  of  pre-de- 
generate  man,  so  this  second  period  has 
a  correspondence  to  that  early  age  of 
human  degeneracy  in  which  the  savage 
instincts  of  the  race  found  lawless  ex- 
pression. Many  excellent  persons  can 
look  back  and  discover  things  that 
cause  them  to  shudder  as  they  review 
the  deceptions  practiced,  the  thoughts, 
feelings  and  indiscretions  indulged,  the 
ambitions  that  filled  their  imagina- 
tions, the  foolhardy  risks  taken,  and 
the  dangers  heedlessly  and  needlessly 
encountered.  These  retrospections 
should  make  parents  and  teachers  wise 
and  considerate.  If  a  child  has  en- 
tered into  a  real  Christian  experience 
before  this  period,  it  has  the  sustaining 
power  of  Divine  grace.  It  will  err, 
but  a  quickened  conscience  and  a  pray- 
ing heart,  aided  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 


22  Child  Culture 

will  find  the  way  out.  Whereas,  if  a 
child  is  allowed  to  enter  this  valley  of 
desire  without  Christ,  it  is  actuated  by 
selfish  emotions  and  desires,  which  be- 
come so  much  a  part  of  it  that  indul- 
gence in  them  is  a  delight.  The  unre- 
generate  child  revels  in  sins  that  the 
Christian  hates.  But  it  is  also  during 
this  second  period  that  the  great  awak- 
ening of  adolescence  comes,  the  birth 
of  higher  mind-powers,  emotions  and 
aspirations.  Wherefore  all  the  greater 
need  for  sympathetic  and  careful  guid- 
ance. With  this  new  awakening,  if 
not  before,  the  average  child,  if  prop- 
erly instructed,  will  come  into  a  defi- 
nite, conscious  religious  experience. 
Even  when  the  Christian  life  began  in 
babyhood,  there  comes  a  natural  re- 
newing, a  confirmation  with  deeper 
understanding,  at  the  time  correspond- 
ing to  the  age  when  Jesus  came  to  the 
consciousness  expressed  in  the  words, 
"Wist  ye  not  that  I  must  be  about  my 
Father's  business?"  Records  show 
that  over  forty  per  cent  of  Christian 
conversions  occur  during  adolescence. 
The  boy  that  passes  this  period  with- 
out the  new  birth  is  prone  to  lapse  into 
hardness  of  heart  or  moral  delin- 
quency.    Over  sixty  per  cent  of  crimi- 


General  Observations  23 

nals  commit  their  most  vicious  crimes 
between  the  ages  of  twelve  and  twenty- 
one. 

The  third  period  corresponds  to  the 
age  of  racial  transition  from  savagery 
to  civilization.  Young  manhood  and 
womanhood  are  struggling  with  the 
problem  of  self-mastery  and  the  con- 
trol of  vigorous,  untrained  emotions. 
Instinctive  demand  for  liberty  resents 
parental  authority.  Developing  gender 
produces  radical  changes  of  body  and 
mind.  The  instincts  of  young  woman- 
hood rule  head  and  heart.  Love  in- 
spires secrecy  even  to  the  point  of 
deception.  It  has  no  sense  but  the  de- 
sire for  its  own  indulgence.  It  takes  a 
wise  mother  to  apprehend  the  needs  of 
this  crisis  and  so  gain  and  hold  the  con- 
fidence of  her  daughter  that  she  can 
guide  her  aright.  The  boy  that  is  be- 
coming a  man  is  full  of  conflicting 
impulses.  Egotism  usually  outruns 
wisdom.  Awakening  intellect  is  skep- 
tical, questions  authority,  rejects  the 
advice  of  father,  and  refuses  to  learn 
by  the  experience  of  others.  Measured 
by  his  own  consciousness  there  is  no 
time  in  life  when  a  man's  knowledge  is 
so  sure,  and  self-confidence  so  suffi- 
cient, as  between  the  ages  of  seventeen 


24  Child  Cttlture 

and  twenty-two.  It  is  not  always  pos- 
sible for  a  father,  however  earnest  or 
wise  his  efforts,  to  gain  his  son's  confi- 
dence and  hold  it  during  this  transi- 
tional period.  But  if  he  can  make  a 
chum  of  the  boy,  enter  into  his  games, 
attend  his  class-meets,  and  live  in  his 
heart,  he  will  seldom  fail  to  make  a 
manly  man  of  him. 

'   Character  and  Efficiency 

In  concluding  these  general  observa- 
tions permit  me  to  repeat  with  great 
emphasis  that  character  building  should 
be  the  chief  object  in  education  and 
child  training.  Even  from  a  business 
point  of  view,  character  is  more  impor- 
tant than  knowledge.  What  good  is  a 
boy  that  cannot  be  trusted?  What 
chance  is  there  for  men  and  women 
that  cannot  be  depended  upon?  Em- 
ployers say  there  are  fifty  employees 
that  know  how  for  one  that  will  con- 
tinue to  do  as  well  as  he  knows.  Why 
are  there  so  many  educated  failures? 
Is  there  not  something  lacking  in  home 
and  Sunday-school  teaching,  and  in  an 
educational  system  that  turns  out  so 
many  delinquent,  spineless,  character- 
less,   inefficient   graduates?     We   are 


General  Observations  25 

slow  to  apprehend  the  truth  in  that  say- 
ing, ''Out  of  the  heart  are  the  issues  of 
life/'  We  depend  upon  head  training 
while  the  heart  is  full  of  unconquered, 
untrained  impulses,  and  deficient  in 
qualities  essential  to  success.  We  must 
come  to  realize  that  conscience,  kind- 
ness, reverence,  patience,  energy,  cour- 
age, application,  watchfulness,  thought- 
fulness,  carefulness  and  faithfulness 
are  the  elements  that  make  for  effi- 
ciency, happiness,  progress  and  good 
citizenship. 


II 

NEURONS  AND  HABITS 
Basic  Facts 

Physiological  psychology  has  dem- 
onstrated several  highly  important 
facts  that  everyone  should  understand, 
some  of  which  are  as  follows  :* 

1.  All  sensations,  conscious  thoughts, 
feelings  and  emotions  are  related  to  brain 
and  nerve  action. 

2.  Stimuli  (impulses  caused  by  light 
waves,  heat  waves,  etc.)  pass  over  the 
sensory,  or  afferent,  nerves  to  the  brain  and 
discharge  through  the  efferent,  or  motor, 
nerves,  resulting  in  sensation,  volition, 
thought  or  action. 

3.  Repeated  discharge  of  a  given  stimu- 
lus through  the  brain  establishes  a  nerve 
path  of  connecting  nerve  fibrils,  which  tends 
to  regulate  and  control  the  discharge  of  sim- 
ilar, subsequent  stimuli,  and  thus  determine 
their  effects  on  mind  and  character. 

4.  Acts,  thoughts,  feelings  and  desires 
that  are  persisted  in,  or  often  repeated,  are 
registered  in  the  chemistry  and  structure 
of  brain-cells,  which,  with  their  connecting 
fibrils,  become  the  physical  basis  of  similar, 
subsequent  thought  and  conduct. 

*  The  following  six  propositions  are  taken 
from  the  Author's  lecture  on  "Brain  Build- 
ing and  Soul  Growth,"  which  gives  many 
interesting  experiments.  This  lecture  is 
published  in  full  in  his  book,  ''Method." 

26 


Neurons  and  Habits  27 

5.  When  sense  impressions  or  mental 
images  have  been  embodied  in  neurons, 
the  sours  activities  in  connection  with  the 
brain  reproduce  these  embodied  images  in 
the  stream  of  consciousness.  In  other 
words,  recalling  is  accomplished  by  the  re- 
functioning  of  the  neurons,  which  activity- 
reproduces  in  consciousness  their  embodied 
images. 

6.  Inherited  brain-cells  embody  most 
definitely  the  impressions  of  early  child- 
hood. The  effects  of  these  early  impres- 
sions are  changed  only  by  persistent  effort. 
A  child  is  usually  more  susceptible  than  an 
adult,  mainly  because  its  brain-cells  are 
more  responsive  to  new  impressions.  Brain- 
functioning  results  from  either  subjective 
or  objective  stimulation.  When  associated 
nerve-fibrils  form  contact  in  response  to 
stimuli,  nerve-energy  is  conducted  from 
neuron  to  neuron,  thus  reproducing  in  con- 
sciousness the  images  they  embody.  By 
this  process  the  phenomena  of  conscious 
feeling,  thinking,  willing  and  doing  are  car- 
ried on. 

From  the  foregoing  facts  we  learn : 
(a)  By  repeating  any  mental  image, 
thought,  feeling,  or  desire,  we  may  em- 
body it  in  brain-cells,  (b)  The  brain 
center  of  any  element  of  mind  or  char- 
acter can  be  strengthened  by  regular 
systematic  use.  (c)  During  the  first 
ten  years  it  is  easy  to  establish  the 
physical  basis  of  a  keen  intellect,  pure 
affections,  noble  aspirations,  a  firm  will 
and  a  righteous  character;  but  it  is 
quite  as  easy  to  build  the  physical  basis 
of  opposite  tendencies. 


28  Child  Culture 

Habit  and  Character 

The  outward  expression  of  both 
mind  and  character  is  controlled  largely 
by  habit.  Habits  are  formed  by  the 
repetition  of  a  voluntary  act  until  it  be- 
comes involuntary,  and  in  no  other 
way.  We  will  and  must  form  habits. 
Whatever  is  done  by  habit  is  done 
easily  and  naturally.  Most  regular  ac- 
tivities can  be  reduced  to  habit.  There- 
fore, one  of  the  primary  purposes  of 
all  training,  physical,  mental  and  moral, 
is  the  formation  of  right  habits. 

All  know  the  power  exerted  by  bad 
habits,  the  wreck  and  ruin  wrought  by 
nerve-paths  built  in  violation  of  moral 
law,  through  which  wrong  choice  and 
conduct  persist.  But  few  realize  that 
right  habits  formed  in  childhood  are 
equally  potential  in  producing  and  per- 
petuating right  conduct.  Every  life 
process,  from  the  simplest  muscular  co- 
ordination to  the  most  complex  mental 
or  moral  activity,  is  to  be  brought  to  its 
highest  degree  of  perfection  by  the  for- 
mation of  right  habits.  Careless  per- 
ception and  mental  laziness  in  child- 
hood become  fixed  habits  of  thought- 
lessness, shiftlessness  and  mental  indif- 
ference,   which   disqualify  one    for   a 


Neurons  and  Habits  29 

studious  life,  or  the  filling  of  any  place 
of  responsibility.  The  efficient  the 
great  and  the  good  are  so  largely  be- 
cause of  the  potency  of  constructive 
habits. 

Habit  Formation 

Habit- forming  begins  at  birth.  The 
purposeful  motions  of  an  infant  soon 
become  involuntary.  The  character 
elements  are  formed  in  the  first  few 
months.  Regular  times  for  feeding, 
bathing,  etc.,  soon  create  an  involun- 
tary demand  at  such  times.  By  undue 
attention  it  is  easy  to  make  baby  a  ty- 
rant. The  wise  mother  knows  that 
many  of  the  most  helpful  lessons  of  life 
are  learned  through  tears  and  self- 
denial;  therefore,  she  does  not  gratify 
every  demand,  but  quietly,  firmly  per- 
sists in  an  intelligent  course,  to  which 
baby  soon  conforms.  The  infant  that 
is  cuddled  and  rocked  every  time  it 
cries,  or  is  allowed  its  own  way,  gets 
a  wrong  start  and  forms  brain-paths  of 
selfishness,  inconsiderateness,  ungov- 
ernable temper — -in  short,  a  despicable 
disposition.  Since  the  primary  nerve- 
paths  of  habit  are  made  during  the  first 
few  years,  it  is  imperative  that  they 


30  Child  Culture 

be  formed  along  lines  of  obedience,  pa- 
tience, consideration  for  others,  self- 
denial  and  self-control. 

Habit  by  Doing 

Habits  are  formed  mainly  by  doing. 
It  is  the  repeated  experiencing  of  an 
act  that  builds  a  nerve-path.  The  re- 
peated playing  of  a  piece  of  music 
causes  the  fingers  to  find  the  keys  in- 
voluntarily. It  is  not  enough  to  say  to 
a  child,  ''You  will  remember  to  put 
away  your  playthings  when  through 
with  them."  The  act  must  be  prac- 
ticed without  variation  to  become  habit- 
ual. Likewise,  the  habit  of  obedience 
cannot  be  formed  by  admonition  only. 
A  child  must  be  drilled  in  doing  as 
directed.  For  this  purpose  simple  acts 
that  at  first  cause  no  resistance  should 
be  selected,  such  as  telling  a  child  to 
stand,  to  sit,  to  change  position;  or  to 
do  some  simple  task,  like  going  through 
the  house  and  closing  all  the  doors 
without  slamming.  By  such  drills  the 
habit  of  obedience  to  a  command  is 
formed.  Immediate  and  exact  response 
should  be  insisted  upon;  otherwise  a 
tendency  toward  shiftlessness,  careless- 
ness and  inexactness  is  promoted.   I  f  the 


Neurons  and  Habits  31 

habit  of  prompt  obedience  is  fixed  in  a 
child's  nature,  it  will  tend  to  impel  action 
in  line  with  duty  throughout  life.  Will- 
fulness is  usually  the  outgrowth  of  dis- 
obedience. A  child  that  has  been  taught 
to  obey  from  babyhood  seldom  presumes 
to  assert  its  will  against  parental  au- 
thority, right,  or  duty.  One  may  be- 
come so  habit-bound  as  to  destroy  free- 
dom of  choice;  but  the  lawless  spirit 
and  lack  of  reverence  for  authority  in 
the  average  American  youth  indicates 
that  training  in  obedience  is  seldom 
overdone. 

Corrective  Habits 

Bad  habits  are  to  be  overcome  by  the 
formation  of  opposing  ones.  A  wrong 
reaction  is  checked  by  the  creation  of  a 
right  action  of  greater  potency.  Thus, 
the  habits  of  profanity,  cigarette  smok- 
ing, loafing,  etc.,  are  to  be  overcome  by 
the  creation  of  opposing  ideals,  and 
practicing  them  until  the  momentum 
of  the  new  habit  exceeds  that  of  the 
old.  Several  years  ago  a  well-known 
physician  adopted  a  neglected  boy,  who 
had  formed  habits  of  disorder  and 
shiftlessness.  When  he  was  brought 
into  the  home,  he  was  assigned  a  special 


32  Child  Culture 

hook  in  the  hall  on  which  to  hang  his 
cap.  But  he  would  walk  heedlessly  by 
the  hook  into  the  living-room  and  toss 
his  cap  into  a  corner.  Repeatedly  tell- 
ing him  to  hang  up  his  cap  made  no 
lasting  impression.  Finally,  the  Doctor 
said,  ^'Charlie,  can't  you  remember  to 
hang  up  your  cap  when  you  come  in  as 
the  other  boys  do?"  The  boy  replied, 
"No,  honest.  Papa,  I  just  can't  think 
of  it."  'Then,"  said  the  Doctor, 
''We'll  have  to  give  that  memory  of 
yours  a  little  special  training.  Put  on 
your  cap;  go  out  at  the  back  door; 
come  around,  and  in  at  the  side  door. 
Take  off  your  cap ;  hang  it  on  the  hook ; 
point  your  finger  at  it  and  say,  'There 
you  are.'  Now  take  it  down  and  put  it 
on;  go  out  at  the  back  door,  and  do 
just  as  you  did  before.  Do  this  twenty- 
four  times  without  stopping."  It  is 
needless  to  say  that  after  this  training 
the  boy  never  came  in  again  without 
remembering  to  remove  his  cap  and 
hang  it  up. 

Habit  and  Training 

Any  faculty  of  mind  or  element  of 
character  can  be  strengthened  and 
trained  by  the   formation  of  a  habit 


Neurons  and  Habits  33 

that  will  exercise  it.  Thus,  the  habit 
of  noticing  in  detail  cultivates  the  per- 
ceptive faculties;  the  habit  of  writing 
down  one's  thoughts  strengthens  mem- 
ory and  the  power  of  expression.  The 
habit  of  politeness  cultivates  agreeable- 
ness,  suavity  and  self-respect.  The 
habit  of  daily  prayer  strengthens  rever- 
ence, faith,  hope,  conscience,  etc.  Even 
sub-normal  faculties  may  be  strength- 
ened and  trained  in  this  way.  Up  in 
the  Northwest  country  there  is  an  old 
Judge,  who  is  widely  known  for  his 
unusual  capacity  to  quote  law  and  court 
decisions  accurately  from  memory.  As 
a  boy  he  was  a  dullard,  and  at  the  age 
of  ten  could  not  take  the  lessons  of  the 
primary  school.  There  being  no  schools 
for  sub-normal  children,  he  was  sent  to 
the  country  to  live  with  an  uncle.  The 
practical  farmer  soon  observed  that  the 
boy  did  not  notice  anything,  but  went 
about  like  one  in  a  dream.  He  at  once 
began  calling  attention  to  things  and 
compelling  the  lad  to  notice.  Thus,  if 
they  were  building  a  fence  and  the 
hammer  was  left  behind,  after  awhile 
Uncle  would  say,  'Where  did  we  leave 
that  hammer?''  "Right  by  that  crooked 
post.  Uncle."  "Well,  well,"  his  uncle 
would  answer,  "it's  wonderful  how  you 


34  Child  Culture 

see  and  remember  things/'  At  dinner 
he  would  tell  Auntie  how  this  boy  was 
coming  to  notice  everything,  and  what 
a  help  he  was.  This  tactful  encourage- 
ment so  stimulated  the  lad  that  he  after- 
ward said  that  he  used  to  lie  awake 
nights  trying  to  locate  everything  on 
the  farm  so  as  to  surprise  Uncle.  This 
habit  of  noticing  in  detail  so  increased 
and  trained  his  perceptive  faculties  that 
after  three  years  he  entered  school  and 
kept  up  with  his  classes  until  he  became 
a  Harvard  graduate.  Later  he  took 
the  degree  of  LL.D.  at  Yale.  In  tell- 
ing me  of  his  experience  the  Judge 
said,  "I  consider  that  I  was  saved  from 
a  life  of  uselessness  by  the  practical 
common  sense  of  that  dear  old  farmer 
uncle." 

Explain  to  Children 

The  law  of  habit  should  be  explained 
to  every  child.  As  early  as  the  age  of 
four  most  children  can  be  made  to 
understand  that  a  stooping  posture  will 
produce  round  shoulders  and  a  flat 
chest,  and  thus  prevent  proper  breath- 
ing; how  a  quick  temper  will  mature 
into  a  bad  disposition  or  sullen  nature, 
rob  one  of  happiness  and  make  him  dis- 


Neurons  and  Habits  35 

agreeable  to  others;  and  how  habitual 
disobedience  in  a  little  boy  makes  the 
lawless,  bad  man  that  has  to  go  to  jail. 
By  taking  the  positive  side,  it  is  easy  to 
show  a  child  how  right  bodily  habits 
produce  a  strong,  erect  body ;  how  con- 
trolling selfish  impulses  results  in  the 
self-mastery  that  makes  a  manly  man. 
Thus,  by  explaining  in  a  tactful  way 
how  and  why  habits  form,  and  their 
power  in  influencing  conduct,  one  can 
usually  secure  the  enthusiastic  coopera- 
tion of  a  child.  The  process  is :  First 
create  the  ideal  and  the  desire  for  its 
realization  in  the  mind  of  a  child;  then, 
by  encouragement  and  insistence,  com- 
pel action  without  a  lapse  until  the 
habit  is  fixed. 

Hillyer  says :  "A  single  omission  will 
set  back  habit  formation,  make  further 
omissions  easier  and  defer  indefinitely 
the  time  when  the  habit  is  to  become 
second  nature.  If  the  parent  or  teacher 
neglects  to  notice  the  omission  of  the 
act  to  be  formed  into  a  habit,  the  habit 
is  half  undone.  As  James  aptly  puts 
it,  'Each  lapse  is  like  the  letting  fall  of 
a  ball  of  string  which  one  is  carefully 
winding  up,  a  single  slip  undoes  more 
than  a  great  many  turns  will  wind 
again.' '' 


36  Child  Culture 

Play  and  Habit 

Play  should  be  directed  and  made 
purposeful.  Otherwise  it  becomes  idle 
indulgence  and  forms  habits  that  re- 
strict development  and  foster  vice, 
shiftlessness  and  laziness.  It  is  the 
effort  to  discriminate,  or  to  achieve 
something  definite,  that  builds  brain. 
Hurling  a  stone  at  a  mark  ten  times 
will  do  more  to  develop  exactness  in 
muscular  coordination,  and  increase  the 
faculties  involved,  than  the  purposeless 
throwing  of  a  stone  fifty  times.  Mak- 
ing mud-pies  with  care  develops  skill. 
The  mere  piling  up  of  blocks  to  see 
them  fall  accomplishes  little,  but  build- 
ing block-houses  develops  constructive 
power.  All  games  that  require  skill 
are  helpful,  but  play  that  merely  whiles 
away  time  is  as  dangerous  to  develop- 
ing youth  as  bad  associates  or  question- 
able literature. 

Habit  Drills 

Children  are  naturally  adventurous; 
they  delight  in  discovery.  The  wise 
mother  takes  advantage  of  these  tend- 
encies, and  by  suggesting  what  and  how 
to  play,  and  directing  games,  causes 
the  formation  of  correct  habits.  Dr. 
Montessori's   wonderful  play   system, 


Neurons  and  Habits  37 

which  educates  the  child  by  encourag- 
ing purposeful  games,  investigation, 
and  learning  by  doing,  is  worthy  of 
careful  study  and  emulation  in  every 
home.  Rhythmic  motion,  singing 
games  and  other  regulated  forms  of 
bodily  action  not  only  produce  poise, 
strength,  ease  and  grace,  but  have  a 
strong  reflex  influence  on  the  artistic 
sense,  self-respect  and  self-confidence. 
Building,  making  things,  working  with 
mechanical  toys,  drawing,  etc.,  with  a 
purpose,  increase  perceptive  power  and 
form  the  mental  habits  essential  to  a 
studious  life.  Children  playing  together 
under  the  direction  of  a  tactful  in- 
structor readily  form  habits  of  polite- 
ness, gentleness  and  kindness  to  others. 
The  boy  that  learns  to  play  fair,  win 
honestly,  and  to  lose  without  complaint 
or  resentment  will  be  strengthened  for 
manhood's  trials.  The  lad  that  is  per- 
mitted to  cheat  is  likely  to  continue  in 
dishonesty  when  mature.  It  takes  tact, 
time,  patience  and  persistence  to  build 
right  habits  into  brain-paths,  but  it  is 
worth  while.* 


*  For  extensive,  detailed  descriptions  of 
habit  drills  the  reader  is  referred  to  V.  M. 
Hillyer's  book  on  "Child  Training,"  of  chil- 
dren under  seven, 


Ill 

MENTAL  SUGGESTION 
Suggestion  Explained 

Mental  suggestion  is  a  way  of  mak- 
ing an  effective  impression;  a  process 
of  directing  mind- force  to  the  accom- 
plishment of  a  definite  purpose;  a 
method  of  influencing  vital  functions, 
correcting  faults,  embodying  ideals, 
and  building  mind  and  character.  It  is 
neither  hypnotism  nor  mental  magic, 
but  the  practical  application  of  a  law 
of  mind  as  old  as  humanity.  It  is  easy 
to  learn,  safe  to  employ  and  sure  of 
results. 

Generally  speaking,  all  sensory  and 
subjective  impressions  become  sugges- 
tions; but  only  when  impressions  are 
strong  enough  to  affect  vital  functions 
or  definitely  modify  mind  or  character 
do  they  become  suggestions  in  a  tech- 
nical sense.  If  you  draw  a  pencil 
lightly  across  a  blotter,  you  produce  a 
superficial  mark  that  is  easily  erased; 
but  by  retracing  the  line  several  times 
38 


Mental  Suggestion  39 

you  make  a  deep  impression,  and  so 
press  the  lead  into  the  paper  that  it  can 
hardly  be  removed.  You  may,  by  bear- 
ing down  hard,  produce  the  same  result 
with  a  single  stroke,  but  it  is  easier 
done  by  retracing.  Likewise,  if  you 
say  to  a  child,  ''Always  close  a  door 
gently,"  but  fail  to  secure  its  attention, 
your  words  make  so  light  an  impres- 
sion that  they  are  quickly  forgotten. 
Whereas,  by  concentrating  your  mind 
upon  the  idea,  securing  the  child's  at- 
tention, and  together  repeating  the  sen- 
tence with  intense  interest,  you  may 
make  a  deep,  persistent  impression  that 
will  recur  in  its  consciousness  when- 
ever it  starts  to  close  a  door.  Now, 
this  effective,  persistent  impression  is 
what  psychologists  call  a  suggestion. 
It  differs  from  the  superficial  impres- 
sion only  in  power  and  permanency. 
Under  right  conditions  one  may  make 
such  an  impression,  or  lodge  a  sugges- 
tion, as  it  is  called,  by  pronouncing  a 
sentence  once ;  but  generally  it  is  easier 
and  more  effectively  done  by  prolonged 
attention  and  repetition.  By  this  proc- 
ess any  fact  or  ideal  that  can  be  put 
into  words  may  be  so  lodged  in  the  soul 
and  embodied  in  neurons  as  to  become 
an  integral  part  of  the  child. 


40  Child  Culture 

To  use  auto-suggestion  in  self -im- 
provement one  should  see  clearly  and 
hold  in  mind  the  fact  or  ideal  to  be 
lodged.  Then  affirm  it  in  words,  to 
give  it  form.  Love  it,  to  give  it  life. 
Desire  and  will  it,  to  give  it  power  and 
permanency.  By  continuing  this  men- 
tal attitude  the  idea  will  become  em- 
bodied. By  this  means  one  may  cor- 
rect faults,  improve  the  memory,  gain 
self-control,  or  develop  the  capacity  for 
the  expression  of  any  quality  or  virtue. 
In  formulating  a  suggestion  one  should 
affirm  the  positive,  as,  "I  can,"  or  'T 
will,"  rather  than  the  negative,  *T  can- 
not," or  "I  will  not."  The  one  strength- 
ens; the  other  weakens.  One  should 
always  affirm  the  exact  truth,  and  thus 
avoid  embodying  a  lie. 

Mind  Processes 

Man  has  an  outer  and  an  inner  con- 
sciousness generally  referred  to  as  the 
objective  mind  and  the  subjective  mind. 
The  soul  functioning  in  conjunction 
with  the  brain  results  in  conscious  sen- 
sation, thought  and  volition.  Its  func- 
tioning apart  from  the  brain  results  in 
subjective  mentations  and  involuntary 
impulses.    All  strong  objective  impres- 


Mental  Suggestion  41 

sions  enter  the  subjective  nature  and 
affect  its  activities.  All  teaching  ad- 
dressed to  the  objective  consciousness 
is  effective  to  the  degree  that  it  is  reg- 
istered in  the  subjective.  The  subjec- 
tive self  is  limited  in  objective  percep- 
tion and  expression  to  the  functional 
power  of  the  brain,  and  the  sense 
organs. 

It  is  a  law  of  action  that  the  strong- 
est impulse  at  any  given  time  controls 
conduct.  It  is  a  law  of  character  build- 
ing that  those  suggestions  most  often 
and  most  impressively"  lodged  be- 
come most  potential.  Therefore,  to 
strengthen  any  power  of  mind  or  trait 
of  character  it  is  only  necessary  to 
lodge  with  sufficient  emphasis  such  sug- 
gestions as  are  needed  to  produce  the 
desired  results. 

Science  of  Suggestion 

A  mental  adept,  by  training  in  con- 
centration, is  able  to  create  and  con- 
tinue in  consciousness  a  strong,  clear, 
mental  image,  which  is  communicated 
telepathically  to  persons  in  a  state  of 
receptivity.  This  is  the  secret  of  his 
achievements.  His  words,  signs  and 
incantations  induce  attention,  but  are 


42  Child  Culture 

powerless  to  communicate  the  image 
were  it  not  held  definitely  in  his  mind. 
Some  persons  have  unusual  suggestive 
power  by  nature,  but  all  may  acquire  it 
by  daily  concentration,  and  the  habit  of 
interior  clear-seeing — in  other  words, 
by  the  practice  of  creating  a  clear, 
strong  mental  image,  and  persisting  in 
seeing  it  for  a  few  minutes  without 
deviation.  Whoever  can  continue  to 
see  the  mental  image  of  an  ideal  as  a 
reality,  to  the  exclusion  of  its  opposite, 
has  the  power  of  effective  suggestion. 
The  Psychotherapist  sees  mentally 
the  perfection  of  body  and  function 
that  he  would  have  his  patient  realize. 
His  treatment  consists  in  creating  this 
image  in  the  subjective  nature  of  his 
patient ;  to  the  degree  that  he  succeeds, 
is  his  treatment  effective.  The  same 
law  applies  to  mind  and  character 
building.  The  first  essential  is  to  cre- 
ate and  hold  a  definite  thought-form 
of  the  thing  to  be  communicated.  The 
second  is  to  secure  a  state  of  receptivity 
in  the  child.  The  third  is  to  express 
the  mental  image  in  concise  words, 
slowly,  earnestly  and  impressively. 
When  this  is  done  several  times  with 
intense  attention,  the  suggestion  wnll  be 
lodged.     To  deepen  and  strengthen  an 


Mental  Suggestion  43 

impression  it  should  be  gone  over  sev- 
eral times  a  day  until  the  ideal  becomes 
fixed  in  the  soul  and  its  form  embodied 
in  neurons.  The  main  thing  is  the  cre- 
ation and  psychic  communication  of 
the  ideal  when  the  words  are  pro- 
nounced. 

Suggestion  Applied 

Mental  suggestion  can  be  used  in 
the  treatment  of  mental  and  moral  de- 
fects quite  as  successfully  as  in  the 
treatment  of  functional  diseases.  Sup- 
pose a  child  is  given  to  stealing.  It 
should  first  be  shown  the  necessity  of 
everyone  recognizing  the  property 
rights  of  others,  and  the  wrong,  weak- 
ness and  wickedness  of  stealing.  When 
it  is  convinced  of  the  wrong  and  wants 
to  do  right,  one  should  create  and  hold 
the  image  of  exact  honesty  in  the  mind 
and  have  the  child  affirm,  ''I  do  not 
want  to  steal.  I  can,  I  will  be  honest.'' 
When  this  new  mental  creation  is 
strong  enough  to  exceed  in  potdncy  the 
tendency  to  steal,  the  child  may  be  said 
to  be  cured.  Whipping  and  other 
forms  of  corporal  punishment  are  po- 
tential to  the  degree  that  they  lodge  the 
required  suggestion.     But  a  deep  im- 


44  Child  Culture 

pression  made  by  mental  means  may  be 
quite  as  effectual. 

In  using  suggestion,  the  age,  devel- 
opment and  peculiarities  of  a  child 
must  always  be  taken  into  account. 
What  is  proper  at  one  time  may  be 
harmful  at  another.  What  is  right  for 
one  child  at  a  given  age,  may,  because 
of  difference  in  development,  tempera- 
ment or  disposition,  be  wrong  for  an- 
other. Some  children  are  more  sus- 
ceptible and  responsive  to  the  influ- 
ence of  suggestion  than  others;  but  pa- 
tient, persistent  effort  wisely  directed  is 
sure  to  bring  results  in  all.  Sudden,  radi- 
cal changes  are  not  to  be  expected ;  they 
sometimes  occur,  but  gradual  growth 
alone  gives  permanency  to  character. 

To  influence  a  child  one  must  exer- 
cise self-control,  judgment  and  tact. 
One  should  not  attempt  to  lodge  a  sug- 
gestion when  angry,  or  w^hen  a  child  is 
angry.  The  thing  to  be  accomplished 
should  be  explained  in  such  a  way  as 
to  secure  confidence  and  cooperation. 
The  child  should  be  made  to  feel  that 
it  has  the  love  and  sympathy  of  the 
parent,  and  that  the  two  are  going  to 
work  together  for  a  definite  purpose 
with  all  assurance  that  they  will  suc- 
ceed. 


Mental  Suggestion  45 

Aggressive  Goodness 

The  main  use  of  mental  suggestion 
is  not  in  the  treatment  of  mental  de- 
fects and  moral  obliquities,  but  in 
awakening,  training  and  developing 
those  elements  of  mind  and  character 
that  make  for  strength,  efficiency,  self- 
respect,  honesty,  charity  and  positive 
goodness.  By  putting  the  ideals  of 
these  into  suggestions  and  lodging  them 
in  the  subjective  mind  of  a  young 
child,  they  become  controlling  factors. 
As  an  ounce  of  prevention  is  better 
than  a  pound  of  cure,  so  a  few  strong, 
positive  suggestions  of  purity,  honesty, 
temperance  and  loyalty  lodged  early  in 
a  child's  nature  are  far  better  than 
much  corrective  treatment.  It  is  easier 
to  keep  a  child  right  than  to  correct  it 
when  it  has  gone  wrong.  The  wise 
parent  apprehends  possible  temptations 
from  within  and  without,  and  builds 
strongly  against  them  before  they 
appear. 

Limitations  of  Suggestion 

Suggestion  is  limited  to  altering  the 
soul's  activities  and  expressions.  It 
does  not  change  the  heart,  the  source 


46  Child  Culture 

of  primary  impulses.  It  is  confined  to 
influencing  and  cannot  regenerate,  nei- 
ther can  it  take  the  place  of  Divine 
grace.  To  expect  or  attempt  to  achieve 
by  suggestion,  brain-building,  habit,  or 
ethical  culture,  that  which  can  only  be 
done  by  spiritual  generation  and  growth 
in  grace  is  irrational  and  unscientific. 
This  subject  will  be  considered  at 
length  in  a  subsequent  chapter. 

Truth  and  Suggestion 

Jesus  said,  *'As  a  man  thinketh  in  his 
heart,  so  is  he.''  *'By  thy  words  thou 
shalt  be  justified,  and  by  thy  words 
thou  shalt  be  condemned."  Thoughts 
are  mental  creations.  Desire  gives 
them  life;  will  gives  them  power; 
words  give  them  form  and  expression, 
by  which  they  are  lodged  in  a  soul  and 
embodied  in  neurons.  Thus  truth  ex- 
pressed in  words  becomes  a  living,  po- 
tent, permanent  influence  for  good. 
But  a  lie  wrought  into  the  soul  weak- 
ens, corrodes  and  defiles.  It  is  like 
virus  in  the  blood,  or  a  faulty  timber  in 
a  building.  A  physician  may  give  a 
favorable  prognosis  to  allay  fear  and 
inspire  hope.  Likewise,  a  parent  or 
teacher  may  encourage  the  timid,  dull, 


Mental  Suggestion  47 

or  wayward  child  with  affirmations  that 
represent  the  ideal  rather  than  the  pres- 
ent reality.  But  the  only  sane,  right- 
eous course  is  to  affirm  truth  and  only 
truth.  Thus  a  child  purposes  in  its 
heart  to  obey,  but  through  conflicting 
impulses  and  temptations  is  often  dis- 
obedient. The  truth  should  be  de- 
clared, "You  want  to  be  obedient.  You 
can  be,  etc.''  By  the  repetition  of  the 
ideal  the  child  is  strengthened  in  its 
will  and  purpose,  making  obedience 
easy  and  habitual. 

Prefixing   Character 

The  proper  time  to  correct  a  child's 
disposition  by  suggestion  is  when  it  is 
good-natured  and  removed  from  temp- 
tation. By  prefixing  in  the  mind  what 
one  will  or  will  not  do  under  a  given 
provocation  it  is  possible  to  substan- 
tially predetermine  conduct.  Thus,  sup- 
pose a  child  has  a  violent  temper.  This 
tendency,  whether  hereditary  or  ac- 
quired, is  related  to  psychic  conditions 
and  neurons,  which,  in  response  to 
stimuli,  react  in  anger.  Now  what  is 
wanted  is  to  prefix  the  soul  while  it  is 
calm  against  such  reactions.  Sugges- 
tions calculated  to  accomplish  this  are : 


48  Child  Culture 

I  can  control  my  temper.  I  will  con- 
trol the  expression  of  this  evil  impulse. 
I  will  repeat  this  over  and  over  in  the 
presence  of  temptation  until  I  stop  get- 
ting angry  at  every  provocation.  It 
may  not  be  possible  to  so  influence  a 
child  that  it  will  never  get  angry;  but 
patient,  persistent  training  will  check 
the  temper  under  ordinary  provocation 
and  restrict  it  from  violence  even  under 
trying  circumstances. 

A  Practical  Experiment 

The  foregoing  proposition  was  pre- 
sented at  a  Chautauqua  Assembly.  The 
following  day  I  was  invited  out  to  dine. 
When  dessert  was  served,  which  con- 
sisted of  ice-cream  and  cake,  a  four- 
year-old  boy  accepted  instead  some  milk 
and  crackers,  eating  it  cheerfully.  After 
dinner  I  congratulated  his  mother  on 
the  good  behavior  of  her  boy,  when, 
to  my  surprise,  she  said:  ''This  is  un- 
usual, and  his  papa  and  I  are  delighted. 
He  is  an  only  child  and  being  of  a  nerv- 
ous temperament  we  have  allowed  him 
to  have  his  own  way.  Yesterday  I 
attended  your  lecture  and  noted  what 
you  said  about  prefixing  decision  in  the 
absence  of  temptation.     This  morning. 


Mental  Suggestion  49 

when  it  was  decided  to  have  ice-cream 
for  dessert,  I  thought  it  a  good  oppor- 
tunity to  test  the  method.  The  boy  is 
fond  of  ice-cream  but  it  does  not  agree 
with  him.  After  breakfast,  when  he 
was  not  hungry,  I  took  him  in  my  arms 
and  told  him  what  we  were  to  have  for 
dinner.  I  reminded  him  that  ice-cream 
always  made  him  sick,  so  we  must  get 
him  something  else.  We  talked  over 
what  he  would  like  and  decided  that  he 
should  have  milk  and  crackers,  then  he 
would  be  well  and  could  go  out  to  the 
grounds.  He  agreed.  Several  times 
during  the  morning  we  repeated  to- 
gether what  he  was  to  have  for  his  des- 
sert. He  has  been  indulged  and  spoiled, 
and  I  tell  you  frankly,  if  his  will  had 
not  been  prefixed  he  would  have  had 
his  portion  of  cream  or  made  it  uncom- 
fortable for  all  of  us." 

The  Montessori  Method 

The  Montessori  method  gives  spe- 
cific and  detailed  directions  for  awak- 
ening and  educating  the  senses,  powers 
of  perception,  memory  and  imagina- 
tion ;  also  the  emotions  and  higher  sen- 
timents. Dr.  Montessori's  system  is 
largely  the  outgrowth  of  experiments 


so  Child  Culture 

with  defective  and  sub-normal  chil- 
dren; but  normal  children  trained  by 
her  methods  progress  much  faster  with 
less  effort,  and  pass  higher  examina- 
tions at  a  given  age,  than  under  the  old 
regime.  The  essentials  of  the  system 
are  the  tactful  awakening  of  natural 
but  intense  interest,  and  the  wise  direc- 
tion of  this  interest  to  the  acquisition 
of  useful  knowledge  and  the  develop- 
ment of  mental  faculties.  The  Doctor 
aims  to  systematically  and  harmoni- 
ously develop  all  of  the  functions  of 
body  and  mind.  Concerning  intellec- 
tual training  she  says:  "The  teacher 
must  seek  to  limit  the  field  of  the  child's 
consciousness  to  the  subject  of  the  les- 
son. For  this  she  should  use  a  method 
tending  to  isolate  the  inner  attention  of 
the  child,  and  fix  it  upon  the  perception 
of  the  fact  or  thing  to  be  learned/' 

The  Art  of  Teaching 

Once  secure  a  child's  enthusiastic  in- 
terest in  a  subject  and  it  will  educate 
itself  along  that  line.  If  there  is  but 
one  hour  for  study  it  is  better  to  spend 
three- fourths  of  that  time,  if  need  be, 
in  creating  a  desire  to  know,  than  the 
whole  time  trying  to  drill  something 


Mental  Suggestion  51 

into  a  child's  mind  that  it  does  not  care 
to  know.  Experience  proves  that  what- 
ever occupies  an  active  mind  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  everything  else  is  never  for- 
gotten. A  divided  attention  is  sure  to 
result  in  an  imperfect  perception,  hence 
a  faulty  memory.  One  thing  at  a  time 
is  the  way  of  exact  education,  but  a 
child  should  not  be  required  to  concen- 
trate long  enough  to  become  wearied. 

Perceptive  Training 

To  increase  and  train  perceptive 
power  in  a  child  the  teacher  should  ifirst 
secure  attention  by  awakening  interest, 
then  point  out  details  of  the  thing  to 
be  perceived.  This  noticing  in  detail 
will  make  an  accurate,  lasting  impres- 
sion. Suppose  a  child  is  to  be  trained 
in  perception  of  form  and  location.  A 
good  subject  is  the  study  of  the  geog- 
raphy of  a  state.  Boundary  lines  and 
the  principal  rivers  should  be  carefully 
traced,  and  the  location  and  relative 
position  of  towns  and  cities  pointed  out. 
These  details  gone  over  several  times 
with  attentive  effort  to  notice  form, 
size  and  relative  position  will  increase 
perceptive  power.  Likewise,  in  the  per- 
ception of  colors,  tones,  things,  facts, 


52  Child  Culture 

truths,  ideas ;  in  short,  everything  about 
which  one  would  have  exact  knowl- 
edge, it  is  the  effort  to  discriminate  and 
perceive  in  detail  that  develops  capac- 
ity. This  method  may  be  supplemented 
by  suggestion,  thus:  Say  to  the  child, 
**You  will  notice  this  and  that.  You 
will  not  forget,  etc.''  One  child  will 
readily  perceive  and  recall  forms,  but 
will  not  remember  names.  Another 
may  perceive  both  of  these  but  forget 
places.  Therefore,  special  attention 
should  be  given  to  the  thing  a  child 
fails  to  notice,  and  to  lodge  sugges- 
tions calculated  to  strengthen  deficient 
faculties. 

Memory  Through  Association 

Memory,  like  perception,  is  a  com- 
plex function  of  the  mind  resulting 
from  the  combined  activity  of  many 
primary  elements,  some  of  which  may 
be  strong  while  others  are  weak.  There- 
fore, memory  specialists  lay  much  stress 
on  associating  things  difficult  to  remem- 
ber with  those  easily  recalled;  and 
connecting  newly  acquired  facts  or  per- 
ceptions with  those  already  fixed.  Thus 
if  one  have  a  good  memory  of  faces, 
but  a  poor  memory  of  names,  by  habit- 


Mental  Suggestion  53 

ually  pronouncing  the  name  whenever 
the  face  is  seen  or  thought  of,  the  asso- 
ciation will  soon  make  one  recall  the 
other.  Or,  if  a  child  has  a  good  verbal 
memory,  but  lacks  perception  of  order, 
by  naming  the  details  of  a  process  in 
the  order  in  which  they  come,  recalling 
the  names  will  reproduce  the  mental 
image  of  the  order. 

To  use  suggestion  in  memory  cul- 
ture, one  should  require  a  child  to  fix 
its  mind  intently  on  the  thing  to  be  re- 
membered, and  while  thus  thinking 
with  concentration,  repeat  slowly  and 
impressively  the  facts,  figures  or  forms 
of  things  to  be  recalled,  then  say  ear- 
nestly, "You  can,  you  will,  remember 
this.''  Here  repeat  the  thing  to  be  re- 
membered. By  encouraging  this  defi- 
nite method  of  fixing  things  in  the 
mind  and  refunctioning  them  at  will, 
the  process  will  soon  become  habitual 
and  thus  form  the  basis  of  accurate 
perception  and  a  good  memory  for  life. 

Learning  to   Think 

Every  child  should  be  taught  to  rea- 
son. It  should  be  encouraged  to  dis- 
cern the  relations  of  cause  and  effect. 
It  should  be  induced  to  find  out  for  it- 


54  Child  Culture 

self  the  why  and  wherefore  of  things; 
to  make  its  own  plans;  to  weigh  facts 
and  draw  conclusions.  If,  instead  of 
answering  questions,  one  supply  a  child 
with  the  necessary  facts,  and  teach  it 
how  to  make  deductions,  it  will  soon 
learn  to  think  out  the  answers  to  many 
of  its  problems,  and  thus  increase  and 
train  the  reasoning  faculties.  This 
method,  however,  should  not  be  over- 
done. It  is  unwise  to  crowd  any  part 
of  a  child's  education  beyond  the  nat- 
ural order  of  development.  There  is 
a  temptation  to  encourage  precocious 
children  to  go  beyond  their  grades,  but 
such  should  rather  have  their  energies 
directed  to  athletic  sports  and  physical 
culture.  Teach  the  child  to  delight  in 
a  well- formed,  strong,  pure  body  as  a 
means  to  prolonged  health,  happiness 
and  efficiency. 


* 


IV 
GRACE  AND  GROWTH 

Godless  Ethics 

In  this  chapter  we  are  to  study  meth- 
ods of  Christian  character  building. 
In  the  preceding  chapters  we  have  seen 
how  new  forms  of  intelligence,  ideals 
and  habits  are  embodied  in  neurons, 
and  how  suggestion  may  be  used  in  in- 
fluencing natural  tendencies.  But  let 
no  one  suppose  that  such  methods,  how- 
ever persistently  and  skillfully  em- 
ployed, can  produce  a  regenerate  heart 
or  primary  righteous  impulses.     Some 

#pple  reject  spiritual  birth  and  Divine 
ace.  They  want  the  sunshine  with^ 
out  the  sun,  the  effect  without  the 
cause,  the  Christian  virtues  without 
Christ.  This  is  irrational,  impossible. 
No  one  can  come  to  God  through  eth- 
ical living  and  noble  deeds  only.  There 
is  an  inherent  necessity  for  spiritual 
quickening.  "Ye  must  be  born  again," 
applies  to  all.  From  the  beginning  God 
was  the  life-giver,  the  law-giver,  the 
55 


56  Child  Culture 

grace-giver.  From  these  all  true  ethics 
and  virtues  have  come.  Unregenerate 
moral  people  are  what  they  are  largely 
through  good  inherent  tendencies  from 
Christian  ancestors  and  religious  in- 
fluences. In  other  words  they  are  liv- 
ing on  inherited  and  appropriated 
grace.  But,  since  we  cannot  separate 
an  attribute  from  its  source  and  retain 
its  potency,  the  momentum  of  hered- 
itary Christian  impulses  must  soon  run 
down  unless  vitalized.  Hence,  God- 
less ethics  are  powerless  to  produce  and 
perpetuate  righteousness.  The  place 
to  begin  Christian  character  building  is 
in  the  heart.  The  first  essential  is 
regeneration. 

Knowledge  Insufficient 

Educators  say  that  all  purposeful 
right  conduct  is  necessarily  coordinant 
with  right  knowledge.  But  right  ac- 
tion does  not  always  follow  right 
knowledge.  Why?  Because  some- 
thing more  than  knowledge  is  needed 
to  control  the  will.  Jesus  said,  'Tf  a 
man  love  me  he  will  keep  my  words." 
Here  is  another  motive.  Both  knowl- 
edge and  love  are  essential.  Volition 
springs  from  two  sources,  knowing  and 


Grace  and  Growth  57 

desiring.  Knowledge  tells  how  and 
why,  but  affection  impels  action.  Most 
educators,  child  culturists  and  reform- 
ers depend  too  largely  on  knowledge. 
This  is  why  their  efforts  are  but  partly 
successful.  Out  of  the  heart  are  the 
issues  of  life.  The  heart  is  the  source 
of  primary  impulses.  Right  loves  give 
rise  to  righteous  impulses.  Any  sys- 
tem of  education  or  training  that  neg- 
lects the  inspiration  and  cultivation  of 
right  affections  must  ultimately  fail. 

Baby  Christians 

Jehovah  said,  *^A  new  heart  will  I 
give  you,  and  a  new  spirit  will  I  put 
within  you.''  The  acceptance  of  this 
gift  through  Jesus  Christ  is  of  first  im- 
portance. No  element  of  character  is 
right  that  is  not  rooted  in  Divine  love. 
Babies  have  a  natural  capacity  for  ac- 
cepting this  gift  and  starting  right. 
Jesus  recognized  this,  and  blessed  them 
saying,  "Of  such  is  the  kingdom  of 
Heaven."  What  folly,  what  insanity, 
to  build  the  impulses  of  an  unregener- 
ate  heart  into  neurons  and  nerve-paths ; 
and  thus  produce  a  sin- full  flesh  to  war 
against  the  Spirit  in  later  years!  If  a 
baby's  brain-paths  are  built  from  the 


58  Child  Culture 

beginning  by  impulses  that  spring  from 
Divine  love,  goodness  is  inwrought 
made  natural  and  spontaneous. 

Reader,  if  you  are  interested  in  even 
one  child,  permit  me  to  urge  you  to 
begin  aright,  and  by  teaching  and  ex- 
ample win  the  child's  heart  to  love  and 
trust  Jesus.  It  can  be  done.  If  you 
are  living  a  consecrated  Christian  life, 
the  "Spirit  of  Truth''  and  the  "Word" 
will  guide  you.  Do  not  wait  for  ma- 
turity of  mind.  As  soon  as  a  baby  is 
old  enough  to  love  and  trust  its  parents, 
it  is  old  enough  to  love  and  trust  Jesus. 
Whoever  can  love  and  trust  Him  can 
receive  Him,  and  with  Him  the  gift  of 
regeneration  and  Divine  love.  Put  it 
to  the  test,  in  faith  believing,  and  you 
will  not  be  disappointed.  Christ  in  the 
heart  of  your  child  as  the  fountain  of 
its  life,  and  growth  by  His  grace,  make 
possible  righteous  attainment. 

Creative  Processes 

Love  begets  life.  As  is  the  love  so  is 
the  life  created.  Pure  love,  pure  life: 
vile  affections,  vicious  life.  What  we 
love  we  tend  to  become.  If  we  love 
war  and  strife,  we  are  soon  filled  with 
a  militant  spirit.     If  we  love  art  and 


Grace  and  Growth  59 

beauty  we  embody  them.  If  we  love 
truth  and  knowledge,  we  acquire  them. 
If  we  love  God  with  the  whole  heart, 
mind  and  strength,  we  become  God- 
filled.  In  short,  we  are  the  fruition  of 
our  affections.  Therefore,  create  in  a 
child  right  loves,  and  you  are  sure  of 
right  impulses,  conduct  and  character. 
The  heart  of  a  child  is  the  most  sen- 
sitive, responsive  center  of  life  known 
to  science.  Whoever  has  the  grace  and 
the  wisdom  to  control  this  center  aright 
can  mould  the  disposition.  The  changes 
wrought  in  the  character  of  bad  boys 
by  Judge  Ben.  B.  Lindsey  and  other 
Juvenile  Court  Judges  prove  the  power 
of  love  and  confidence.  Years  ago  one 
hundred  waifs  from  New  York  City 
were  distributed  among  Indiana  farm- 
ers. One  of  the  boys  was  taken  to  a 
Sunday-school  picnic,  where  he  rescued 
another  lad  from  drowning.  The  crowd 
gathered  about  the  young  hero,  extol- 
ling his  courage  and  presence  of  mind. 
A  minister  drew  the  little,  wet,  shiver- 
ing body  close  to  him  and  said,  "What 
can  we  do  to  repay  you  for  saving  this 
boy^s  life?"  The  waif,  with  eyes  full 
of  tears  from  this  touch  of  kindness, 
and  lips  blue  with  cold,  said,  "Please, 
sir,  if  you  really  want  to  do  som'fin  for 


60  Child  Culture 

me,  tell  somebody  to  love  me,  wo'nt 
ya?"  This  was  his  supreme  need.  This 
is  what  most  waifs  need  to  make  good 
citizens  of  them.  The  mother-love 
squandered  on  cats,  parrots  and  poo- 
dles, if  wisely  bestowed,  would  re- 
claim and  transform  all  the  waifs  of 
America. 

Divine  Grace 

Jesus  said,  *'My  grace  is  sufficient 
for  thee.''  Divine  grace  is  spiritual 
vitality  communicated  by  the  Lord  to 
the  members  of  His  body.  It  is  the 
sap  from  the  vine  to  the  branches,  by 
which  growth  and  fruition  are  brought 
forth.  A  branch  must  be  connected 
with  the  vine  to  receive  sap.  Likewise, 
a  soul  must  be  vitally  connected  with 
Christ  through  regeneration  to  receive 
His  grace.  Whoever  has  this  vital  con- 
nection and  has  learned  to  appropriate 
grace  has  the  secret  of  Christian 
growth.  'T  am  the  vine;  ye  are  the 
branches."  Whatever  is  in  the  vine  is 
communicated  by  the  sap  to  the 
branches.  This  sublime  fact  makes 
possible  the  realization  of  Christ 
formed  within.  Every  inherent  and  ac- 
quired evil  tendency  is  to  be  eradicated 
by  putting  off  the  old,  sinful  nature, 


Grace  and  Growth  61 

and  putting  on  Christ.  This  transfor- 
mation is  accomplished  through  grace. 
The  process  is :  (a)  Reckon  the  old  self 
dead,  that  is,  crucified  with  Christ ;  and 
keep  it  in  the  place  of  death,  (b) 
Through  love,  faith  and  obedience  ac- 
cept the  fullness  and  perfection  of  the 
new  life  in  Christ  Jesus. 

To  get  this  process  into  the  mind  and 
heart  of  a  Christian  child  it  should  be 
told  of  Jesus'  love  for  children;  that 
He  is  ever  present,  able  and  willing  to 
protect  and  help  them  by  manifesting 
His  goodness,  wisdom  and  power  in 
and  through  them.  Teach  the  follow- 
ing facts:  (i)  Christ  has  put  His 
Spirit  in  you.  He  is  the  source  of  your 
life,  strength,  purity,  goodness,  and  all 
other  virtues.  This  Spirit  becomes 
manifest  in  you  by  your  loving  and 
trusting  Jesus  and  asking  Him  in  faith 
for  it.  (2)  When  you  pray  for  grace 
to  do  right,  know  with  absolute  cer- 
tainty that  it  will  be  given  you.  Ac- 
cept it  at  once,  then  try  your  very  best, 
and  Christ's  power  will  come  into  ex- 
pression, enabling  you  to  do  His  will. 
(3)  Recognize  that  your  strength  and 
victory  are  from  the  Lord.  Thank 
Him  for  them  and  rejoice  in  His  pres- 
ence, and  both  faith  and  strength  will 


62  Child  Culture 

increase.  You  can  overcome  every 
fault  and  temptation,  and  acquire  any 
virtue  through  Divine  grace.  The  Lord 
is  your  ever  present  help  when  you  are 
striving  to  do  right. 

When  these  teachings  have  been 
given,  say  to  the  child:  'The  new 
spirit  Jesus  gives  you,  we  will  call  the 
grace-boy,  and  the  old  spirit  that  wants 
to  be  naughty  we  will  call  the  bad-boy. 
The  grace-boy  is  God's  child;  he  is  al- 
ways good,  truthful,  obedient,  etc.  This 
grace-boy  is  stronger  than  the  bad- 
boy,  and  can,  with  Jesus'  help,  always 
do  what  he  knows  he  should.  This 
bad-boy  wants  to  do  wrong,  but  he 
can't  do  it  unless  he  gets  into  the 
grace-boy's  heart;  so  we  will  tell  him 
to  be  gone.  We  don't  want  any  bad- 
boy  inside  this  grace-boy  to  make  him 
do  wrong."  By  teaching  the  child  to 
identify  himself  with  Christ  as  the 
grace-boy,  and  fixing  the  fact  in  mind 
and  heart  that  he  can  resist  all  the  sug- 
gestions of  the  bad-boy  and  be  the 
strong,  true  grace-boy,  he  will  have 
both  the  ideal  and  the  power  to  grow 
aright. 

Christianity,  to  be  apprehended  or 
appreciated  by  a  child  must  be  ex- 
pressed through  human  personalities. 


Grace  and  Growth  63 

The  surest  way  to  awaken  in  children 
a  love  for  the  good,  the  pure,  the  noble, 
the  beautiful  and  the  true  is  to  live 
these  qualities  before  them.  Another 
effective  way  is  to  read  and  tell  them 
stories  that  embody  right  ideals  and 
teaching.  Children  are  hero-worship- 
ers. If  their  minds  are  filled  with  the 
heroes  of  sensational  stories  they  Want 
to  be  outlaws  and  criminals.  If  they 
hear  and  read  of  the  heroes  of  truth 
and  righteousness,  of  valor  and  self- 
denial,  of  patience  and  loyalty,  they  are 
inspired  to  become  like  them. 

Obedience  and  Progress 

"The  chief  end  of  man  is  to  glorify 
God."  God  is  glorified  by  becoming 
manifest  in  the  human  heart,  and  find- 
ing expression  in  purpose,  thought  and 
conduct.  To  the  degree  that  one  be- 
comes Spirit-filled  and  expresses  the 
Christ-love,  life  and  character,  to  that 
degree  does  one  glorify  God.  This 
fundamental  truth  should  be  made  the 
reason  for  absolute  obedience  to  the 
Divine  will  as  revealed  in  His  Word. 
Again,  what  glorifies  God  most  is  best 
for  man ;  for  His  glory  is  man's  attain- 
ment.    Only  by  receiving  His  Spirit, 


64  Child  Culture 

and  giving  expression  to  His  attributes 
are  true  growth  and  real  progress  made 
possible.  Failure  to  comply  with  this 
law  is  the  cause  of  continuance  in 
death,  arrested  growth,  distorted  per- 
sonality, and  inconsistencies  in  life  and 
character.  Therefore  every  child 
should  be  taught  that  obedience  is  the 
primal  virtue,  the  root  from  which  all 
other  virtues  grow.  No  child  should 
be  allowed  to  disobey  the  laws  of  life, 
truth,  justice,  kindness,  etc.  Disobe- 
dience in  childhood  means  lawlessness 
in  youth.  The  country  is  surfeited 
with  delinquent  boys  and  girls  because 
parents  fail  to  insist  on  obedience. 
Make  no  mistake.  The  rights  of  a 
child  are  not  infringed  upon  by  exact- 
ing obedience  to  moral  law.  Liberty  is 
not  license;  and  the  earlier  a  child 
learns  to  conform  to  law,  to  act  in 
keeping  with  the  rights  of  others,  but 
most  of  all  according  to  the  expressed 
will  of  God,  for  His  glory,  the  more 
correct  will  be  its  development  and  the 
higher  its  attainment. 

Love  and  Obedience 

"Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God 
with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul, 
and  with  all  thy  mind  and  with  all  thy 


Grace  and  Growth  65 

strength :  thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor 
as  thyself.''  Why?  Because  perfect 
love  with  understanding  begets  right 
impulses,  motives  and  conduct.  This 
one  great  commandment  fulfilled  makes 
the  fulfillment  of  all  other  command- 
ments spontaneous,  agreeable  and  nat- 
ural. No  soul  can  grow  aright,  or  come 
to  its  highest  and  best  that  is  not  actu- 
ated by  love.  This  perfect  love  is  a 
gift  of  the  Lord,  and  comes  into  ex- 
pression through  His  manifestation  in 
the  heart.  When  the  child  has  this  gift 
it  should  be  inspired  by  precept,  prayer, 
and  persuasion  to  give  expression  to 
perfect  love  by  perfect  obedience. 
'Tove  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law." 

Many  parents  try  to  compel  obedi- 
ence by  punishment.  This  is  better 
than  to  allow  disobedience;  but  force 
should  be  a  last  resort.  Others  com- 
mand with  an  authority  that  implies 
coercion.  This,  too,  is  an  appeal  to 
law  rather  than  grace.  The  grace- 
child  is  a  child  of  love.  Therefore,  the 
wise  Christian  parent  seeks  first  to  in- 
spire love  that  will  beget  a  desire  to 
obey.  Obedience  gained  from  this  mo- 
tive tends  to  right  conduct  in  the  fu- 
ture; while  obedience  obtained  by 
coercion  often  begets   a  tendency  to 


66  Child  Culture 

break  away  from  parental  authority. 
Young  men  and  women  reared  under 
strict  compulsory  obedience,  when 
freed  from  restraint,  often  become  law- 
less. Had  their  right  conduct  sprung 
from  right  affections  there  would  have 
been  no  such  lapse.  From  this  and 
much  more  that  might  be  said  it  is  evi- 
dent that  the  first  move  toward  obedi- 
ence from  right  motives  is  the  inspira- 
tion of  perfect  love. 

Conscience  and  Obedience 

''Children,  obey  your  parents,  for 
this  is  right."  The  second  great  essen- 
tial is  to  teach  the  child  that  obedience 
is  right  in  the  sight  of  God ;  that  it  is  a 
requirement  of  the  law  of  growth;  that 
it  is  a  demand  that  must  be  met  by 
everyone  that  would  become  strong, 
pure,  noble  and  true;  that  conscience, 
the  still,  small  voice  that  speaks  in  the 
heart,  must  be  heeded.  No  grace-child 
can  grow  that  does  not  listen  to  and 
obey  this  inner  voice. 

''Parents,  provoke  not  your  children 
to  wrath."  This  admonition  is  vital. 
Too  often  a  parent's  command  springs 
from  irritation,  selfishness,  or  that 
form  of  unreasoning  bigotry  that  de- 


Grace  and  Growth  67 

mands  obedience  to  display  authority. 
The  thoughtful  parent  acts  from  love 
and  truth,  speaks  out  of  kindness,  has 
a  sympathetic  understanding  of  a 
child's  innate  rights,  and  gains  response 
by  awakening  right  impulses. 

Perverting  Children 

Parents  that  do  not  understand  the 
laws  of  psychology  frequently  develop 
undesirable  traits  in  their  children  by 
appealing  to,  or  governing  them 
through  their  appetites  and  propensi- 
ties rather  than  through  intellect  and 
moral  sentiment.  Thus  Mrs.  A  gains 
obedience  by  promising  her  boy  candy ; 
Mrs.  B  hires  her  boy  to  do  right; 
Mrs.  C  threatens  to  punish,  and  Mrs.  D 
appeals  to  pride,  telling  her  child  how 
everyone  will  approve.  Each  secures 
action  from  a  wrong  motive ;  and  since 
every  time  we  exercise  a  power  we 
strengthen  it,  Mrs.  A's  boy  becomes 
perverted  in  appetite;  Mrs.  B's  boy 
develops  the  commercial  instinct  to 
where  he  will  not  do  anything  unless 
paid  for  it;  Mrs.  C's  boy  will  not  act 
unless  driven;  and  Mrs.  D's  child  be- 
comes vain,  and  has  no  conscience  be- 
yond the  approval  of  others.     Each  is 


68  Child  Culture 

perverse  in  his  way.  Each  mother 
wonders  why  her  once  good  little  boy 
has  become  so  selfish,  willful  or  dis- 
obedient. The  why  is  evident.  Con- 
tinual excitation  of  the  propensities  to 
the  neglect  of  the  moral  sentiments  has 
developed  the  former  so  in  excess  of 
the  latter  as  to  make  them  ruling  mo- 
tives. The  wise  parent  never  appeals 
to  propensities  that  are  already  too 
strong.  Children  that  are  governed 
through  their  appetites  in  infancy  are 
usually  governed  by  them  in  maturity. 

The  Better  Way 

Love,  intelligence  and  conscience 
should  rule  everyone.  A  child  should 
be  governed  through  these  three  fac- 
tors in  early  life  that  it  may  be  gov- 
erned by  them  in  mature  years.  To 
develop  these  qualities  they  must  be 
frequently  appealed  to  and  made  the 
principal  motives  of  conduct.  Suppose 
a  mother  requests  her  child  to  do  a  cer- 
tain thing.  If  it  refuses,  she  should 
explain  why  it  should  be  done.  This 
will  awaken  thought.  If  the  child  still 
refuses  she  should  appeal  to  conscience, 
saying,  "You  know  this  is  right.  You 
want  to  do  right,  etc."    This  will  tend 


Grace  and  Growth  69 

to  quicken  conscience.  Again,  she  may 
appeal  to  affection,  that  love  for 
mamma  may  inspire  obedience.  If 
none  of  these  are  effective  she  should 
say  quietly  but  firmly,  *'You  must.  You 
know  it  is  right.  Now,  if  you  will  not 
do  what  you  know  you  should,  then 
for  your  good  I  must  compel  you." 
Here  it  is  well  to  explain  how  all  have 
to  obey  the  laws  of  the  state;  or  how 
papa  and  mamma  have  to  do  right; 
that  it  may  see  its  case  forms  no  ex- 
ception. Few  mothers  have  the  time 
to  pursue  this  course  often,  neither 
should  the  child  be  so  indulged  as  to 
come  to  expect  it.  But  if  done  often 
enough  to  awaken  these  higher  ele- 
ments and  to  show  the  child  that  there 
is  a  reason  why,  and  a  law  that  com- 
pels obedience,  it  will  soon  come  to  act 
without  an  explanation. 

It  is  sometimes  necessary  to  spat  lit- 
tle meddling  fingers.  The  young  ex- 
plorer is  sure  to  trespass  on  the  rights 
of  others  and  meddle  with  forbidden 
things.  "Thou  shalt  not,"  applies  to 
all;  and  the  child  should  early  learn 
this  lesson.  Now,  since  it  can  feel 
before  it  can  think,  switching  or  spank- 
ing is  often  the  quickest  and  surest 
way  to  make  an  impression.    But  such 


70  Child  Culture 

means  should  be  used  as  little  as  pos- 
sible and  stopped  altogether  when  a 
child  is  old  enough  to  be  governed  with- 
out them. 

Corporal  Punishment 

'Toolishness  is  bound  in  the  heart  of 
a  child;  but  the  rod  of  correction  shall 
drive  it  far  from  him."  "He  that 
spareth  his  rod,  hateth  his  son ;  but  he 
that  loveth  him  chasteneth  him  be- 
times." "The  rod  and  reproof  give  wis- 
dom; but  a  child  left  to  himself  bring- 
eth  his  mother  to  shame."  Some  form 
of  punishment  is  required  in  the  train- 
ing of  every  child,  but  this  does  not 
necessarily  imply  whipping.  As  before 
indicated,  the  effort  at  correction  should 
begin  with  the  highest  elements  respon- 
sive to  influence.  If  none  of  these,  with 
appropriate  suggestions  and  instruc- 
tions, prove  effective,  then  corporal 
punishment  is  not  only  justifiable  but 
commendable.  The  following  sugges- 
tions will  serve  as  a  guide  to  construct- 
ive discipline : 

I.  All  punishment,  whether  mental 
or  physical,  should  be  corrective  and 
remedial  rather  than  penal  or  retali- 
ative. 


Grace  and  Growth  71 

2.  All  punishment  should  be  the  re- 
sult of  due  consideration  of  the  nature 
and  cause  of  the  offense.  Frequent 
slapping  or  whipping  children  without 
considering  their  rights  or  motives 
makes  them  deceitful,  rebellious  and 
discouraged.  It  makes  them  hate  home 
and  parents.  It  causes  them  to  confide 
in  others,  and  starts  them  on  the  way 
to  recklessness  and  ruin. 

3.  One  should  never  punish  in  anger, 
lest  the  wrong  thing  be  said  or  done; 
nor  while  the  child  is  angry,  because 
it  is  incapable  of  receiving  right  im- 
pressions. If  the  punishment  is  justi- 
fiable at  all,  it  may  as  well  be  adminis- 
tered later  when  both  parent  and  child 
are  normal. 

4.  It  is  unwise,  dishonest  and  in- 
human to  terrorize  a  child  with  threats 
that  are  never  to  be  carried  out.  A 
warning  of  punishment  should  always 
be  carefully  worded,  giving  the  exact 
reasons  why,  that  the  child  may  clearly 
understand  its  duty,  and  what  to  ex- 
pect. Then,  in  case  of  disobedience, 
the  promise  should  be  fulfilled  to  the 
letter. 

5.  With  most  children  it  is  well  to 
make  no  inflexible  rule.  Conditions 
and  circumstances  must  be  taken  into 


72  Child  Culture 

account.  Motives  should  always  be 
considered  more  than  conduct.  A  sin- 
gle wrong  act  seldom  merits  punish- 
ment, certainly  not  if  the  child  has  not 
been  properly  instructed.  Only  will- 
ful disobedience  or  habitual  careless- 
ness justifies  punishment. 

6.  A  reasonable  degree  of  personal 
freedom  is  not  only  allowable  but  to  be 
encouraged.  Continuous  restraint  pro- 
duces contempt  for  law  and  authority. 
It  is  unjust  and  unwise  to  punish  a 
child  for  expressing  its  individuality. 
As  long  as  its  intentions  or  acts  do  not 
wrong  itself  or  others  there  is  no  cause 
for  offense  or  chastisement. 

7.  Before  whipping,  a  child  should 
be  made  to  understand  that  at  is  not 
being  punished  out  of  revenge,  but  to 
help  it  to  do  right.  The  nature  of  the 
offense  should  be  carefully  gone  over, 
that  the  child  may  see  how  willful  per- 
sistence in  wrong  makes  punishment 
necessary.  It  should  be  made  to  feel 
that  the  punishment  is  prompted  by 
love  and  duty.  When  mind  and  con- 
science have  been  duly  impressed  with 
the  gravity  of  the  offense,  and  the 
necessity  for  corrective  discipline,  the 
strap  should  be  used  with  sufficient  se-"- 
verity  to  make  an  effective,  lasting  im- 


Grace  and  Growth  7Z 

pression.  After  whipping,  the  parent 
should  take  his  child  in  his  arms  and 
pray  God's  blessing  on  the  punishment. 

Love  Never  Fails 

Sportsmen  once  thought  it  necessary 
to  whip  their  dogs  and  horses  in  train- 
ing; now  they  know  that  correct  in- 
struction and  kindness  are  more  effect- 
ive. If  parents  always  had  the  wisdom 
and  grace  to  do  and  say  the  right  thing 
at  the  right  time,  the  normal  child  could 
be  brought  up  aright  without  physical 
punishment.  Not  far  from  Chicago 
there  is  a  wise,  good  doctor,  who  has 
adopted  some  forty  children,  and  reared 
them  without  whipping.  His  methcrd 
is  right  teaching  for  the  head,  and  right 
loves  in  the  heart.  When  a  child  is 
persistently  disobedient  he  takes  it  to 
an  upper  room,  goes  over  the  case  care- 
fully, making  corrective  suggestions; 
then  together  they  take  the  problem  to 
Jesus  and  ask  for  grace  to  do  right. 
By  this  means  right  knowledge  is  given, 
right  desire  created,  and  grace  to  will 
and  to  do  obtained.  As  a  result  al- 
ready more  than  a  score  of  noble, 
Christian  young  men  and  women  have 
gone  out  from  his  home  to  live  the 
victorious  Ufe. 


74  Child  Culture 

Family  Devotion 

Family  devotion  should  be  made  a 
vital  means  of  Christian  character 
building.  Appropriate  prayer  in  the 
morning  for  each  child,  calling  its  name 
before  the  Lord  and  asking  in  faith  for 
grace  and  wisdom  for  the  day,  brings 
the  child  face  to  face  with  its  needs, 
and  with  Jesus  as  its  source  of  supply. 
This  begins  the  day  aright.  In  the 
evening,  a  family  conference  should  be 
held,  and  the  day's  activities  reviewed. 
If  Mamma  or  Papa,  Mary  or  Johnnie 
has  made  a  mistake,  it  should  be  con- 
fessed. By  the  parents  leading  in  these 
confessions,  a  frank  statement  is  ob- 
tained from  the  children,  which  is  in- 
valuable in  keeping  in  touch  with  and 
directing  them.  No  matter  how  bad 
the  revelation,  this  is  not  the  time  for 
sharp  rebuke  or  criticism,  but  for  love, 
sympathy  and  patience.  Any  serious 
mistake  should  be  taken  up  at  a  future 
time  by  one  of  the  parents,  and  due 
counsel  given  in  private.  When  all 
have  confessed  their  mistakes,  repented 
of  them  and  accepted  forgiveness,  it  is 
time  for  joyful  testimony  of  tempta- 
tions resisted,  of  trials  overcome  and 
victories  won  in  the  name  of  Jesus. 


Grace  and  Growth  75 

Enlarge  and  magnify  in  the  mind  of 
the  child  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
to  enable  one  to  do  and  to  be.  Teach 
the  children  to  depend  on  grace;  to 
rejoice  in  it.  Make  the  evening  devo- 
tion one  of  praise  and  thanksgiving  for 
this  saving,  strengthening  and  keeping 
power.  Conclude  with  prayer,  each 
being  given  an  opportunity  to  take 
part.  Ordinarily,  the  best  time  for 
these  devotions  is  directly  after  the 
morning  and  evening  meals.  Only  a 
few  moments  are  required.  Every 
statement  should  be  brief,  personal  and 
direct,  expressive  of  the  immediate 
problems  of  each  member  of  the  fam- 
ily. Formal  prayers  and  phrases  often 
repeated  are  burdensome  to  children, 
and  ineffective  because  not  represent- 
ing an  honest  expression  of  a  heart's 
desire.  But  direct  talking  to  Jesus 
about  personal  needs,  with  praise  and 
thanksgiving  for  His  gifts,  is  a  means 
of  grace,  interesting  and  inspiring. 

Pity  Children  compelled  to  say, 
"We  never  heard  our  parents  pray." 

Should  such  from  paths  of  virtue  stray, 
'Twould  be  awful,  awful,  awful. 


V 
LITTLE  LESSONS 

Self-Examination 

To  proceed  wisely  in  child-training 
one  must  analyze  self.  Personal  pecu- 
liarities modify  judgment  and  tend  to 
determine  one's  way  of  governing. 
Those  that  are  firm  govern  too  largely 
through  firmness.  The  affectionate  ap- 
peal too  much  to  the  affections.  The 
overconscientious  exaggerate  the  sense 
of  honor  to  the  neglect  of  other  essen- 
tial elements.  Unless  these  natural 
tendencies  are  resisted  one  will  often 
pursue  a  wrong  course.  Again,  the 
faults  of  parents  are  frequently  trans- 
mitted to  their  children  in  an  exag- 
gerated form.  The  parents  not  recog- 
nizing these  faults  in  themselves  blame 
the  children.  Thus,  the  egotistical 
father  cannot  get  along  with  his 
haughty  daughter;  and  the  quick-tem- 
pered mother  has  no  patience  with  her 
fiery,  impulsive  boy.  Parents,  by  dis- 
76 


Little  Lessons  77 

covering  and  correcting  their  own 
faults,  will  avoid  conflict  and  be  better 
able  to  govern  their  children  aright. 

Individual    Peculiarities 

There  are  no  two  children  alike. 
The  management  and  education  of 
each  child  should  be  adapted  to  its  pe- 
culiar needs.  What  is  right  for  one 
may  not  apply  to  another,  and  be  harm- 
ful to  a  third.  There  are  seldom  two 
children  in  a  family  that  can  be  prop- 
erly developed  or  governed  by  the 
same  methods.  Human  nature  is  so 
little  understood  that  a  child  is  often 
an  enigma  to  its  parents.  But  if  they 
will  study  their  own  peculiarities,  and 
watch  the  early  tendencies  of  a  child, 
they  may  discern  its  dominant  traits. 
Training  should  be  adapted  to  awaken 
and  strengthen  weak  elements  and  curb 
those  that  are  too  strong.  The  ideal 
should  include  a  healthy  body,  vigorous 
energies,  normal  appetites,  pure  affec- 
tions, worthy  ambitions,  refined  tastes, 
pronounced  moral  convictions,  a  trained 
intellect,  a  decided  will,  a  kind  forgiv- 
ing spirit,  a  deep  sense  of  reverence,  an 
abiding  faith  in  God,  and  an  unfalter- 
ing zeal  for  truth  and  righteousness. 


78  Child  Culture 

A  Fundamental  Law 

Like  excites  like.  This  fundamental, 
psychological  law  should  ever  be  borne 
in  mind  in  dealing  with  the  child.  An 
angry  word  excites  anger;  selfishness 
begets  selfishness;  love  awakens  love; 
a  frank,  communicative  way  unlocks 
the  heart,  and  makes  it  easy  for  one 
soul  to  reveal  its  thoughts,  desires  and 
aspirations  to  another.  Therefore  the 
surest  and  quickest  way  to  produce  a 
given  emotion  in  a  child  is  to  express 
it  ourselves.  Parents  are  too  often 
actuated  by  impulse  rather  than  by  rea- 
son and  judgment.  A  man  with  the 
wisdom  and  discretion  to  successfully 
manage  great  business  interests  will 
lose  his  temper  in  the  management  o| 
his  children. 

Silent  Influences 

What  we  are,  more  than  what  we 
say,  determines  our  influence  over  oth- 
ers. A  calm,  kind,  considerate,  self- 
possessed  spirit  is  more  efifective  in  the 
government  of  children  than  many 
words  without  composure.  Our  silent 
influences  become  subjective  sugges- 
tions.   A  dissipated  or  dishonest  father 


Little  Lessons  79 

may  silently  lodge  suggestions  that  lead 
his  children  astray.  He  may  teach  the 
ways  of  truth  and  righteousness;  but 
what  he  lives  is  more  potential  than 
what  he  ^^3;^.  This  applies  with  equal 
force  to  all  conditions,  good  and  evil. 
By  living,  desiring,  thinking  and  will- 
ing the  noble  and  the  true,  parents  may 
silently  create  corresponding  activities 
in  their  children. 

Partiality 

It  is  difficult  to  be  impartial.  De- 
spite our  most  earnest  efforts  we  are 
prone  to  favor  those  we  like.  This  nat- 
ural tendency  should  be  guarded.  To 
manifest  indifference  or  dislike  for  one 
child  and  tender  interest  in  another, 
when  duty  demands  the  same  treatment 
of  both,  is  inexcusable.  Children  are 
quick  to  discern  slights  and  preferences. 
They  are  often  discouraged  because  of 
partiality  in  the  school-room.  Par- 
tiality in  the  home  makes  them  jealous, 
rebellious,  or  indifferent.  Justice 
knows  no  law  but  equity.  If  our  feel- 
ings incline  us  to  favoritism  they  should 
be  restrained  that  action  may  come 
from  judgment  and  conscience. 


80  Child  Culture 

Parental  Authority 

Parental  authority  should  be  exer- 
cised only  to  the  degree  necessary  to 
induce  a  child  to  do  right.  A  child 
should  be  taught  to  do  right  for  right's 
sake;  to  obey  because  parental  author- 
ity represents  law.  This  is  wholesome 
discipline ;  but  to  compel  a  child  to  do 
a  thing  just  because  its  parent  says 
so,  without  explaining  why,  often  re- 
sults in  a  sense  of  slavery  or  rebellion. 
Continually  domineering  over  children 
restricts  their  development.  Many  as- 
sume that  when  a  child  has  been  taught 
to  obey  every  command  without  resist- 
ance, they  have  made  a  success  of  fam- 
ily government.  Not  necessarily!  If 
obedience  is  the  result  of  an  undevel- 
oped individuality,  a  crushed  will,  or 
a  suppressed  conscience,  their  assumed 
success  is  a  tremendous  failure.  The 
true  parent  is  a  protector,  a  counselor, 
a  wise  and  sympathetic  critic,  a  faith- 
ful friend.  He  never  belittles  a  child's 
efforts,  no  matter  how  imperfect.  His 
word  is  encouragement,  his  smile  an 
inspiration,  and  his  touch  tenderness 
and  love. 


Little  Lessons  81 

Children's  Rights 

Children  have  certain  inalienable 
rights  that  parents  should  recognize. 
The  fulfillment  of  a  law  from  desire 
or  intelligence  makes  one  free  from  the 
law,  and  justifies  liberty  for  continu- 
ance in  a  right  course.  Words  and 
acts  that  wrong  no  one  sHould  not  be 
restrained.  The  individual  soul  must 
obey  its  impulses,  must  feel,  think,  act, 
in  order  to  grow;  must  come  to  the 
consciousness  of,  *'I  am;  I  can;  I  will." 
God  encourages  by  law  and  precept  the 
righteous  expression  of  the  inner  na- 
ture. The  wise  parent  recognizes  this 
necessity  of  the  child,  and  promotes 
freedom  of  choice  and  fullness  of 
individualism. 

Encouraging  Decision 

Every  child  should  be  trained  to  ex- 
ercise judgment  and  make  decisions 
without  the  help  of  others.  This  is 
necessary  for  mental  and  moral  growth. 
How  can  a  child  become  a  law  unto 
itself  if  parents  make  all  decisions  and 
insist  on  compliance  with  them?  In- 
stead of  saying,  "You  can,  or  cannot 
do  a  thing,"  the  proper  way  is  to  give 


82  Child  Culture 

the  facts  and  evidences  for  and  against 
a  proposition,  then  say,  *  Think  this 
matter  over.  You  will  want  to  do  what 
seems  right."  A  child  had  better  do 
wrong  occasionally  through  error  of 
judgment  or  lack  of  will  than  fail  to 
develop  the  elements  of  self-control. 
A  small  boy  came  running  into  his 
father's  study,  saying,  'Tlease,  Papa, 
give  me  a  quarter.  I  want  to  go  to 
the  show  with  the  boys."  The  father, 
although  knowing  the  questionable 
character  of  the  show,  handed  his  boy 
the  money,  saying,  "What  about  tak- 
ing Mamma  and  Sister?  They  like  to 
see  ponies  and  dogs  perform."  '^No, 
Papa,  Pm  afraid  it's  a  little  tough,  an' 
I  wouldn't  want  to  take  them."  'In- 
deed! Well,  if  it  isn't  fit  for  Mamma 
and  Sister,  shall  you  and  I  go  ?"  "Now, 
Papa,  you  don't  want  to  go  to  that 
show."  "O  yes,  I  do,  li  you  are  going. 
But  you  attend  good  shows ;  and  if  this 
one  is  not  first-class,  you  will  not  take 
me  to  see  it."  "Now,  Papa,  the  boys 
are  all  going,  an'  I  want  to  go  with 
them."  Here  the  father  put  his  arm 
around  his  boy,  and  looking  kindly 
into  his  face,  said,  "I  know  it's  hard 
for  a  fellow  to  resist  the  gang-pull ;  but 
you  are  strong  and  independent.    You 


Little  Lessons  83 

know  what  is  right,  and  I  can  trust  you 
to  decide  for  us.  Lie  down  on  the  sofa 
and  think  it  over,  and  if  you  decide 
that  you  must  go,  let  me  know  and  Til 
get  ready  to  go  with  you."  The  boy 
threw  himself  down  and  turned  and 
twisted  from  side  to  side.  Finally, 
after  being  still  a  few  minutes,  he 
jumped  up,  threw  down  the  quarter  and 
said,  "Papa,  we  won't  go."  The  father 
slapped  him  on  the  back,  hugged  him 
close  and  said,  "Good  boy!  you  won 
out."  This  self-mastery  was  worth 
fifty  decisions  made  by  another. 

Self-Government 

For  a  child  to  act  aright  without 
external  authority,  it  must  know  what 
is  right  and  what  is  wrong.  It  must 
have  a  trained  conscience  sustained  by 
grace,  to  give  the  desire  to  do  right, 
and  the  will  to  do  as  well  as  it  knows. 
The  basis  of  right  and  wrong  may  be 
summed  up  thus :  Any  desire,  thought, 
or  act,  that  is  truly  helpful  to  self  or 
others  is  right.  Whatever  injures  self 
or  others  is  wrong.  But  this  must  be 
made  intelligible  to  the  child  according 
to  its  age  and  needs.  Conscience  can 
be  strengthened  by  awakening  love  for 


84  Child  Culture 

God  and  His  commandments,  and  by 
teaching  that  right  purposes  are  joy- 
seeds  that  produce  future  happiness; 
that  the  inner  voice  that  prompts,  'This 
is  right,"  or  "That  is  wrong,''  must 
always  be  obeyed ;  that  disobedience  to 
this  is  sure  to  bring  pain,  regret,  and 
remorse,  and  if  persisted  in,  sin  and 
wickedness.  The  affirmations,  *T  can, 
I  will,  do  what  I  know  to  be  right :  I 
have  the  strength,  by  Divine  grace,  to 
control  not  only  my  acts,  but  my 
thoughts  and  desires,"  tend  to  strength- 
en the  will.  When  knowledge  and  con- 
science make  a  right  choice,  and  the 
will  is  so  sustained  by  grace  as  to  per- 
sist in  the  choice,  self-government  and 
right  conduct  follow. 

Scolding  and  Threatening 

Herbert  Spencer,  in  his  essay  on 
"The  Rights  of  Children,"  says,  "It  is 
a  real  sin  against  the  child's  nature  to 
scold  it.  There  may  be  times  when  a 
short,  severe  reprimand,  which  is  far 
from  being  scolding,  is  necessary ;  but 
constant  scolding,  which  is  nothing  but 
fault-finding,  is  an  error  into  which 
many  excellent  parents  fall.  It  has  lit- 
tle place  in  any  true  system  of  family 


Little  Lessons  85 

government."  The  child  that  is  scolded 
for  every  little  thing,  and  continually 
found  fault  with,  often  becomes  hard- 
ened or  spiteful.  Its  finer  feelings  are 
blunted,  its  self-respect  dwarfed,  and 
its  worst  elements  accentuated.  One 
should  never  make  threats  or  promises 
that  are  not  to  be  fulfilled.  Obedience 
gained  through  deception  reacts  in  dis- 
respect. A  mother,  traveling,  said  to 
her  little  boy,  *'If  you  don't  sit  down 
ril  throw  you  out  of  the  car  window." 
The  child  did  not  sit  down.  Doubtless 
his  past  experience  had  taught  him  that 
his  mother  often  made  threats  and 
promises  she  did  not  fulfill. 

The  Black  Man 

Fear  is  father  to  many  diseases. 
Fright  shocks  the  nerves  and  may  even 
cause  death.  Frightening  children  is  a 
barbaric  method  of  discipline.  To  com- 
pel a  child  to  go  to  bed  or  stay  in  its 
room  for  part  of  a  day  by  way  of  pun- 
ishment is  commendable ;  but  to  shut  a 
timid  child  in  a  dark  closet,  or  frighten 
it  with  stories  of  ''the  black  man,"  is 
pernicious.  Such  practices  frequently 
result  in  neurosis,  indigestion,  hyper- 
sensitiveness,  sleeplessness,  peevishness, 


86  Child  Culture 

morbid  imaginings,  etc.  A  mother 
once  brought  me  a  fretful,  emaciated 
child,  saying  that  it  was  often  disturbed 
by  bad  dreams,  and  was  intensely  ner- 
vous. While  we  talked  the  little  one 
went  to  the  door.  The  mother,  affect- 
ing fear,  said,  *'Come  back  quick.  The 
black  man'll  get  you!  He's  coming!" 
The  little  one  ran  to  its  mother  quiver- 
ing with  fear.  I  said,  "There  is  the 
cause  of  your  child's  bad  dreams  and 
extreme  nervousness.  These  horrid 
day  images  are  repeated  at  night." 
Many  children  have  been  frightened 
into  cowardice,  frightened  into  ill- 
health,  frightened  into  premature 
graves,  by  bug-a-boo  stories. 

A  Willful  ChUd 

A  mother  once  consulted  me  concern- 
ing her  seven-year-old  boy,  saying  that 
he  was  so  willful  she  could  do  nothing 
with  him.  She  said  she  had  scolded, 
whipped,  and  tried  to  buy  him,  but  all 
to  no  avail;  he  would  have  his  own 
way.  I  said  to  her,  "Instead  of  whip- 
ping, I  suggest  that  you  give  him  a  few 
moments  of  your  time  every  morning. 
Approach  him  in  a  happy,  communi- 
cative way,  so  as  to  awaken  response. 


Little  Lessons  87 

Tell  him  how  every  one  must  conform 
to  the  wishes  of  others  part  of  the 
time,  and  that  he  will  be  happier  and 
get  along  better  as  he  learns  to  do  so. 
Magnify  the  virtue  of  conformative- 
ness.  Mention  the  times  he  has  done 
right  and  how  glad  it  made  you.  Do 
not  refer  to  the  times  he  has  done 
wrong,  for  this  will  create  opposition. 
Say  to  him  in  substance,  that  to-day  we 
are  going  to  try  to  make  each  other 
happy,  etc.  Get  him  to  acquiesce ;  and 
during  the  day  frequently  refer  to  how 
nicely  you  are  getting  along  together. 
If  he  err,  forgive  him,  and  tell  him  you 
will  help  him  to  do  better.  Notice  every 
little  sacrifice  and  encourage  him  in  it. 
Avoid  opposition.  Appeal  to  his  love, 
self-respect,  and  conscience.  Grad- 
ually, but  surely,  you  can  increase  these 
to  where  they  will  become  dominant." 
The  mother  adopted  this  method,  and 
in  a  few  weeks  a  marked  change  was 
evident.  At  the  age  of  ten  the  lad  was 
as  con  formative  as  the  average  boy. 
This  plan  has  been  used  with  good  re- 
sults in  many  similar  cases.  It  has 
proved  effective  whenever  a  parent  has 
been  faithful  and  tactful.  It  is  applica- 
ble, with  proper  variations,  in  over- 
coming any  undesirable  trait. 


88  Child  Culture 

Teachers  and  Governesses 

Great  care  should  be  exercised  in  the 
selection  of  teachers  and  governesses. 
Their  authoritative  position  and  inti- 
macy with  the  child  make  their  influ- 
ence peculiarly  potential  in  shaping  the 
ideals  and  disposition  of  a  child.  No 
person  should  be  employed  for  either 
of  these  positions  whose  life  and  mo- 
tives are  not  exemplary.  Christian 
parents  should  not  subject  their  chil- 
dren to  the  influence  of  teachers  that 
are  not  Christians.  Young  people  are 
prone  to  respect  the  opinions  of  college 
professors  above  those  of  their  parents. 
Every  year  thousands  of  young  Chris- 
tians are  led  astray  in  their  thinking 
by  the  opinions  of  ethical  but  agnostic 
college  men,  whose  lack  of  religious 
experience  disqualifies  them  for  safe 
leadership.  It  is  a  crime  to  place  young 
children  under  the  tutorage  of  moral 
delinquents.  Vice  and  early  indiscre- 
tions are  frequently  caused  by  the 
ignorance  and  perverseness  of  nurse- 
girls  and  servants.  Parents  cannot  af- 
ford to  intrust  the  early  stages  of  char- 
acter-building to  those  that  lack  either 
the  knowledge  or  the  will  to  act  wisely. 
It  is  highly  significant  that  so  many 


Little  Lessons  89 

great  historic  characters  received  their 
early  training  from  wise  private  tutors 
or  intelligent,  devoted  parents. 

Parental  Duty 

The  privilege  of  parenthood  bears 
with  it  certain  obligations  that  cannot 
honorably  be  neglected,  or  intrusted  to 
others.  Affection  is  the  natural  mo- 
tive for  the  fulfillment  of  these  obliga- 
tions; but  when  this  is  wanting,  duty 
demands  it.  The  right  of  children  to 
be  well-born  is  self-evident;  but 
through  ignorance  or  some  other  cause 
many  are  denied  this  right.  If  a  child 
is  not  well-born,  the  parents'  responsi- 
bility in  rearing  it  is  all  the  greater.  In 
early  infancy  there  are  often  require- 
ments that  only  love  will  meet,  and  a 
nurse  or  foster  mother  should  not  be 
expected  to  fully  take  the  place  of 
parents.  All  through  the  growing 
years  children  need  that  sympathetic 
understanding  that  exists  only  between 
parents  and  offspring.  A  trained  gov- 
erness may  do  better  in  some  things 
than  an  untrained  parent ;  but  there  is 
a  heart  quality  that  is  seldom  developed 
aright  in  a  child  without  an  affectionate 
association  with  Father  and  Mother. 


90  Child  Culture 

Liberal  providing  is  good;  wise  in- 
struction can  do  much ;  pure  associates 
and  wholesome  environment  are  impor- 
tant; but  all  of  these  without  parental 
affection  and  personal  attention  do  not 
fulfill  the  whole  law  of  duty. 

The  Lost  Boy 

Jean  Paul  says:  ''The  education 
given  by  most  fathers  is  but  a  system 
of  rules  to  keep  the  child  at  a  respectful 
distance  from  him,  and  to  train  it  more 
in  harmony  with  his  comfort  than  the 
child's  strength;  or,  at  most,  under  a 
tornado  of  wrath,  to  impart  as  much 
instruction  as  he  can  scatter."  Few 
men  have  either  the  tact  or  the  time  to 
keep  in  sympathetic  touch  with  their 
boys  from  babyhood  to  maturity  as  a 
mother  does  with  girls.  This  is  unfor- 
tunate; there  is  something  in  every 
boy  that  demands  the  influence  and 
sympathy  of  a  mature  man.  Few  boys 
develop  aright  without  it.  A  father 
should  be  the  chum  of  his  son.  The 
average  boy  feels  that  he  can  do  what- 
ever Papa  does.  Therefore  one  of  the 
essentials  in  directing  a  boy  aright  is 
to  live  an  exemplary  life  before  him, — 
with  him.    Seldom  will  a  young  man  go 


Little  Lessons  91 

astray  if  he  have  the  loving  counsel 
and  sympathetic  companionship  of  a 
noble-hearted,  temperate,  honest,  pure- 
minded  father.  The  lost  boy  is  usually 
the  neglected  boy,  or  the  boy  whose 
father  set  a  bad  example  before  him. 
A  father  that  is  not  willing  to  give  up 
his  bad  habits  in  order  to  set  a  good 
example  before  his  children  is  unfit  to 
be  the  head  of  a  family.  While  care- 
lessly scaling  a  precipice,  a  father  was 
startled  by  the  call  of  his  little  boy, 
''Choose  a  safe  path,  Papa ;  I'm  follow- 
ing you.''  Would  that  all  fathers  might 
hear  and  heed  this  call ! 

Young  People's  Problems 

Young  people  do  not  understand 
themselves,  and  often  feel  that  they  are 
not  rightly  interpreted  by  others.  Few 
parents  can  apprehend  or  keep  up  with 
the  kaleidoscopic  changes  that  accom- 
pany and  follow  adolescence.  Conse- 
quently they  lose  the  close  and  sympa- 
thetic touch  that  existed  before  this 
period.  Young  people  will  discuss  their 
problems  confidentially  with  someone. 
But  unless  parents  respond  sympathet- 
ically, an  outsider  is  likely  to  be  made 
the  confidant.    If  a  parent  is  so  unwise 


92  Child  Culture 

as  to  criticise  ideals  or  question  mo- 
tives, the  opportunity  of  a  lifetime  may 
be  lost.  But,  by  suspending  judgment 
and  tactfully  suggesting  various  views 
of  the  subject,  and  supplying  such 
knowledge  as  may  be  needed,  a  right 
decision  can  usually  be  reached  without 
opposition.  In  pursuing  this  course 
with  hundreds  of  young  people  that 
have  come  to  me  with  their  problems, 
I  have  usually  been  able  to  get  a  frank 
statement  of  the  whole  matter,  and  to 
reverse,  or  at  least  modify,  a  wrong 
course.  A  good  method  is  to  prepare 
the  way  by  the  recital  of  personal  or 
other  people's  experiences  in  like  mat- 
ters, and  thus  teach  without  seeming 
to  oppose.  This  accomplished,  the  next 
move  is  to  suggest  a  number  of  ways 
out  without  expressing  preference  for 
any ;  then,  by  weighing  the  possible  ad- 
vantages of  the  several  propositions, 
lead  to  a  right  conclusion. 

Young  people,  to  develop  aright, 
must  be  permitted  to  choose  for  them- 
selves, and  thus  learn  to  exercise  the 
right  of  free  moral  agency.  The 
change  from  parental  authority  to  self- 
government  is  fraught  with  many  dan- 
gers and  difficulties;  but  it  must  be 
made,  and  usually  the  earlier  the  better. 


Little  Lessons  93 

Inexperience,  immaturity  of  judgment, 
and  lack  of  self-control  may  result  in 
error;  but  it  is  better  that  one  make 
minor  mistakes  than  to  be  kept  depend- 
ent upon  the  judgment  and  will  of 
others.  In  this  transitional  period,  a 
parent  should  assume  the  role  of  coun- 
selor rather  than  dictator.  The  surest 
way  to  induce  right  choice  is  not  by 
argument  and  opposition,  but  by  right 
instruction,  and  prefixing  the  character 
through  the  awakening  of  right  affec- 
tions. The  youth  that  is  early  trained 
in  obedience  and  the  sense  of  duty  will 
not  willfully  pursue  a  wrong  course; 
an*d  if  he  has  developed  the  spirit  of 
independence  and  moral  courage,  he  is 
not  likely  to  be  led  astray  by  com- 
panions. 

A  young  lady's  social  problems  are 
among  the  most  difficult  to  adjust, 
partly  because  sentiment  exceeds  judg- 
ment; but  correct  early  training,  high 
ideals,  and  Divine  grace  protect  from 
serious  mistakes.  Tactful  suggestion 
that  encourages  discrimination  and  dis- 
cretion may  accomplish  much  without 
interference  with  personal  freedom ;  but 
direct  opposition  or  dictation  usually 
proves  separative.  The  discreet  mother 
tactfully  assists  her  daughter  in  the  se- 


94  Child  Culture 

lection  of  friends,  and  prevents  oppo- 
sition by  creating  in  her  mind  such 
ideals  as  will  prevent  her  from  accept- 
ing undesirable  company. 

Few  parents  give  their  children  the 
right  mental  stimulus  to  awaken  and 
train  judgment  and  will-power.  A  boy 
cannot  learn  to  drive  while  his  father 
holds  the  lines;  neither  can  he  learn 
business  except  by  doing  it.  Likewise, 
judgment,  skill,  and  efficiency  are 
gained  only  by  experience.  A  wise 
father  counsels  with  his  growing  boy 
as  to  the  best  way  to  do  this  and  that, 
not  for  his  instruction,  but  for  the 
boy's  training.  A  wise  mother  dis- 
cusses with  her  daughter  various  social 
and  ethical  questions  to  awaken  thought 
and  encourage  right  decisions.  It  is 
much  easier  to  see  the  right  or  wrong 
of  a  given  course  in  another  than  in 
one's  self;  but  judgments  formed  by 
studying  the  problems  of  others  assist 
in  solving  one's  own  problems.  Raw 
recruits  are  trained  by  a  few  months  of 
military  drill  to  obey  commands  and 
courageously  face  death.  Without 
training  this  would  be  impossible  under 
fire.  Likewise,  young  people  trained 
to  exercise  judgment,  control  the  emo- 
tions, and  obey  the  dictates  of  con- 


Little  Lessons  95 

science  are  prepared  to  meet  the  vicis- 
situdes of  life;  to  decide  and  act  aright 
under  circumstances  that  might  other- 
wise prove  disastrous. 


VI 
SPECIAL  DIRECTIONS 

Introduction 

Standing  before  us  is  a  ragged,  bare- 
footed, freckle- faced,  blue-eyed  boy. 
Who  can  tell  what  latent  forces,  what 
slumbering  passions,  what  genius  or 
native  goodness  lie  hidden  in  that  head 
and  heart  ?  There  may  be  the  elements 
of  the  criminal,  the  orator,  the  phil- 
osopher, the  statesman,  or  the  philan- 
thropist. We  know  his  inherent  ten- 
dencies are  subject  to  modification,  sus- 
ceptible to  influence  and  capable  of  end- 
less improvement;  therefore  let  us  do 
all  we  can  to  direct  his  energies,  de- 
velop his  genius,  and  make  him  a  manly 
man.  Let  us  remember  that  the  boy 
of  today  is  the  citizen  of  tomorrow, 
whose  private  character  and  public  de- 
meanor will  affect  the  social,  commer- 
cial, intellectual,  and  moral  status  of  a 
commonwealth. 

96 


special  Directions  97 

Food  and  Growth 

The  right  feeding  of  children  is  a 
difficult  and  important  problem.  Be- 
cause of  a  wrong  dietary  system,  and 
the  readiness  with  which  the  appetite 
of  a  child  is  perverted,  it  is  little  short 
of  crime  to  allow  children  to  select 
their  own  foods  and  eat  whatever  and 
whenever  they  choose.  Instinct  in  our 
race  is  so  pervertea  that  the  average 
child,  if  unprotected,  soon  comes  to  de- 
mand an  excess  of  sweets,  pastries,  con- 
diments, etc.,  which  disturb  the  func- 
tions of  the  body.  Perfect  digestion 
and  assimilation  require  that  food  be 
taken  into  the  mouth  in  small  quantities 
and  thoroughly  masticated.  The  fre- 
quent desire  to  eat  something  between 
meals  is  more  often  caused  by  fermen- 
tation and  consequent  irritation  in  the 
stomach  than  by  actual  need  of  nour- 
ishment. The  wise  parent  selects  sim- 
ple foods,  and  never  permits  the  use  of 
confections,  or  eating  at  irregular 
periods.  Overeating,  the  use  of  un- 
wholesome food,  and  the  habitual  in- 
dulgence of  the  palate,  are  the  chief 
causes  of  infant  mortality,  arrested 
growth,  and  the  diseases  peculiar  to 
childhood.     Thousands  suffer  through 


98  Child  Culture 

life  from  nervousness,  limited  vitality, 
and  other  forms  of  ill-health,  because 
of  wrong  dietary  habits  in  childhood. 

Food  and  Character 

A  great  scientist  has  said,  "Let  me 
feed  the  criminal  classes  of  any  country 
for  a  hundred  years  and  I  will  banish 
crime/'  Excessive  flesh  eating  pro- 
motes animality.  Herbivorous  birds 
and  beasts,  if  fed  on  meats,  become 
cruel.  Carnivorous  birds  and  animals 
restricted  to  a  fleshless  diet  for  a  few 
generations  lose  their  savage  proclivi- 
ties. This  law  applies  in  a  general  way 
to  man,  but  is  more  potential  in  the 
child.  Children  inclined  to  be  vicious 
or  cruel  should  not  be  given  meat. 
Those  deficient  in  spirit,  energy,  and 
courage  may  use  it  once  a  day  with 
good  results.  The  appetite  for  strong 
drink  is  often  produced  by  the  use  of 
condiments,  tea,  coffee,  and  tobacco, 
which  create  a  demand  for  stronger 
stimulants.  Thousands  have  gone  the 
way  of  intemperance,  vice,  and  crime, 
impelled  by  appetites  perverted  by  un- 
wholesome food  prepared  by  Mother's 
hand. 


special  Directions  99 

Medicine  and  Children 

It  is  unwise  to  give  medicine  to 
babies  except  under  the  direction  of  a 
physician.  The  doctor  seldom  drugs 
his  own  children.  Experience  has 
taught  him  that  practical  hygiene  and 
prevention  are  better  than  medicine. 
Others  should  follow  his  example.  The 
immoderate  and  indiscriminate  use  of 
mineral  poisons  and  patent  medicines 
has  slain  thousands  and  robbed  tens  of 
thousands  of  health  and  vitality  for 
life.  Mortality  is  greatest  among  chil- 
dren that  are  frequently  dosed.  Sooth- 
ing syrups  alleviate  pain  by  making  the 
nerves  temporarily  insensible,  but  sel- 
dom cure.  To  "kill  pain"  without  re- 
moving its  cause  is  always  dangerous. 
There  is  an  excellent  suggestion  in  a 
boy's  essay  on  'Tins/'  which  concluded 
with  the  statement,  "Pins  have  saved 
lots  of  people's  lives  by  their  not  swal- 
lowing them."  The  same  may  be  said 
of  mineral  poisons  and  many  patent 
medicines. 


Physical  Reactions 

All  subnormal  and  defective  children 
should  receive  the  attention  of  a  com- 


100  Child  Culture 

petent  physician.  No  congenital  defect 
nor  long-standing,  abnormal  or  patho- 
logical condition  is  without  psycholog- 
ical effects.  Backward  children  are 
usually  so  from  some  purely  physical 
cause.  Incorrect  breathing  inhibits 
brain- functioning.  Adenoids  arrest 
mental  growth.  Imperfect  vision  causes 
headache  and  inability  to  study.  Im- 
paired digestion  means  malnutrition, 
anaemia,  and  neurasthenia,  with  all 
their  attendant  evils.  A  careful  exam- 
ination of  the  dull,  the  queer,  the 
hyper-sensitive,  the  subnormal,  the 
peevish,  the  vulgar,  and  the  vicious 
usually  reveals  a  pathological  cause. 
All  physical  functions  and  mental  func- 
tions are  related  to  connecting  brain- 
centers,  through  which  the  conditions 
and  activities  of  one  modify  the  other. 
These  effects  may  not  always  be  dis- 
cernible, but  they  exist.  No  bodily  re- 
actions are  more  common  than  those 
that  affect  the  emotional  and  volitional 
centers.  Therefore,  because  a  child 
with  a  defective  body  excels  in  its 
studies  is  no  evidence  that  its  physical 
abnormality  has  no  psychological  reac- 
tion. Physical  culture  and  right  bodily 
development  are  not  only  necessary  for 
health,  strength,  and  prolonged  vigor, 


Spmal  Directions  l(Jl 

but  are  essential  to  normal  growth  of 
mind  and  morals.* 


Physical  Hygiene 

Every  child  should  be  trained  in 
cleanliness  and  the  formation  of  right 
bodily  habits.  Erect  posture  and  deep 
breathing  should  be  insisted  upon ;  also 
regular  hours  for  sleep,  study,  play,  and 
work.  Children  should  be  trained  to  be 
temperate  in  all  things  beneficial,  and  to 
totally  abstain  from  whatever  is  harm- 
ful. All  should  receive  definite  teach- 
ing concerning  the  physical,  mental, 
and  moral  effects  of  stimulants  and 
narcotics,  t  Boys  especially  should  be 
prefixed  by  right  teaching,  suggestion, 
and  Christian  influence,  against  preva- 
lent vices.  A  boy  should  be  so  set 
against  the  use  of  tobacco  and  alcoholic 
drinks  before  he  is  ten  years  old  that  no 
temptation  nor  external  influence  can 
induce  him  to  change.  The  main  thing 
needed  to  protect  children  from  the  bad 


*  See  paragraph  on  "Influence  of  Mind 
Over  Body  and  Body  Over  Mind,"  in  the 
Author's  lecture  on  "Man,  Mind,  Divine 
Healing,"  published  in  his  book,  "Method." 

t  For  a  concise  statement  of  the  effects  of 
tobacco  and  cigarettes  on  boys  and  youths, 
gee  the  Author's  book,  "The  New  Man," 


VJ2  Child  Ci^ltur^ 

influence  of  others  is  the  sense  of  inde- 
pendence, and  the  will  to  do  as  well  as 
they  know.  It  is  the  * 'gang-pull"  that 
leads  the  average  youth  astray.  It 
takes  a  strong,  independent  character 
to  stand  out  against  the  practices  of 
friends  and  companions;  but  the  boy 
that  can  and  will  do  so  gains  in  power 
and  popularity.  His  strength  and  free- 
dom command  respect  even  from  those 
that  lack  the  disposition  or  the  moral 
courage  to  follow  his  example.  There- 
fore, by  teaching  independence  of 
thought  and  conduct,  and  impressing  a 
boy  with  the  sense  of  his  moral  worth 
and  personal  responsibility,  he  is  pre- 
pared to  resist  temptation. 

Moral  Hygiene 

The  chief  end  of  all  true  culture  is 
soul  development.  This  requires  the 
subjection  of  the  appetites  and  propen- 
sities to  the  higher  sentiments.  Many 
that  never  use  stimulants  or  narcotics 
are  intemperate  in  eating,  or  in  the  ex- 
pression of  their  passions,  emotions, 
thoughts,  or  sentiments.  Anger,  jeal- 
ousy, hatred,  greed,  fear,  dishonesty, 
pride,  and  all  other  abnormal  psychic 
activities,  not  only  inhibit  development 


special  Directions  103 

of  the  higher  nature,  but  produce  tox- 
ine  poisons  that  cause  disease;  while 
happy,  hopeful,  trustful  emotions  pro- 
mote physical  health,  intellectual 
growth,  and  moral  development.  Chil- 
dren should  be  taught  to  put  away  ab- 
normal emotions  by  Divine  grace.  Too 
much  emphasis  cannot  be  placed  on  this 
proposition.  Willful,  habitual  yielding 
to  temper,  jealousy,  despondency,  and 
other  forms  of  selfishness  is  a  preva- 
lent cause  of  neurosis,  dyspepsia,  early 
decline,  and  premature  death.  Every 
discordant  vibration  is  injurious  to 
spirit,  soul,  and  body. 

Energy  and  Activity 

Some  children  are  naturally  ener- 
getic and  intensely  active.  Such  must 
be  given  something  to  do  or  they  will 
get  into  mischief.  Their  play  and  work 
should  be  so  diversified  as  to  fully  oc- 
cupy their  time,  yet  prevent  them  from 
overdoing.  Others  are  constitutionally 
deficient  in  energy.  Such  should  be 
given  easy  tasks,  and  encouraged  with 
the  assurance  that  they  can  do  them. 
As  energy  increases,  tasks  may  be  made 
more  difficult.  Such  children  are  im- 
proved by  working  with  others.     They 


104  Child  Culture 

should  take  part  in  out-of-door  sports 
that  require  physical  exertion  and  in- 
crease energy.  All  girls  and  boys 
should  be  taught  to  employ  every  con- 
scious moment.  Idleness  restricts  de- 
velopment. It  begets  vice.  An  idle  life 
is  an  unhappy  life.  An  inactive  mind  is 
always  susceptible  to  evil  impressions. 
Hard  work  gives  strength  of  body, 
hard  study  strength  of  mind.  The  boy 
that  does  not  learn  to  work  rarely  suc- 
ceeds. Idle  girls  seldom  become  good 
women. 

Frugal  Habits 

Children  should  be  taught  to  earn 
and  save  money.  They  should  be  en- 
couraged to  start  a  bank  account  as 
early  as  the  age  of  five,  and  thus  form 
habits  of  self-restraint  by  saving  their 
pennies.  The  child  of  wealth  needs  to 
learn  economy  quite  as  much  as  the 
child  of  poverty.  Extravagance  begets 
vice,  fosters  pride,  and  degrades  char- 
acter. Some  are  naturally  acquisitive 
and  only  need  to  be  guided  aright. 
Others  are  deficient  in  the  ability  to 
make  and  to  save.  Such  should  be 
given  an  opportunity  to  earn  money, 
and  be  required  to  provide  themselves 
with  a  given  article  of  clothing,  such  as 


special  Directions  105 

stockings,  gloves,  etc.  By  this  means 
they  will  learn  to  save,  and  to  care  for 
the  things  they  have  bought.  This 
early  inculcation  of  the  providing  and 
care-taking  spirit  will  prove  of  great 
value  in  later  years. 

Self-Respect 

Self-respect  strengthens  character 
and  enables  one  to  command  the  respect 
of  others.  It  is  a  constant  check  against 
doing  anything  unworthy.  When  this 
quality  is  deficient,  it  may  be  strength- 
ened by  encouraging  a  child  to  take 
pains ;  to  do  well  whatever  it  does ;  to 
complete  everything  undertaken  in  an 
orderly  way;  and  then  complimenting 
it  for  its  achievements.  The  conscious- 
ness of  intelligence,  efficiency,  right- 
eousness, and  courage  gives  true  self- 
appreciation.  Never  should  a  child  be 
called  stupid,  lazy,  mean,  or  anything 
calculated  to  lessen  its  self-reliance. 

Sensitiveness 

Many  children  are  super-sensitive  by 
nature.  They  are  easily  wounded  by  a 
word,  and  are  too  responsive  to  praise 
and  blame.      Such  should  neither  be 


106  Child  Culture 

praised  nor  blamed,  but  influenced 
through  other  elements  until  the  super- 
sensitiveness  is  outgrown.  This  undue 
desire  for  the  approval  of  others  fre- 
quently combines  with  a  personal  pride 
to  that  degree  that  expediency  takes 
the  place  of  conscience,  and  the  ruling 
motive  is  not  what  is  right  or  best  but 
what  others  will  say.  If  not  corrected, 
this  tendency  results  in  vanity  and 
artificiality. 

Self-Protection 

Self -protection  is  the  first  law  of  na- 
ture. The  surest  way  to  protect  one's 
self  against  temptation  is  to  be  pro- 
nounced on  the  side  of  right,  to  mani- 
fest virtue,  and  seek  it  in  others.  Hu- 
man nature  is  weak,  and  needs  the 
sustaining  power  of  Divine  grace.  It 
is  a  sin  to  tempt  others  or  put  one's  self 
under  temptation.  The  child  should  be 
taught  to  obey  the  laws  of  propriety ;  to 
be  discreet,  and  to  keep  its  own  coun- 
sel. It  should  know  that  a  prayerful 
spirit  protects;  that  the  expression  of 
aggressive  goodness  and  positive  virtue 
tends  to  produce  these  in  others  and 
destroy  their  opposites. 


special  Directions  107 

Forethought 

Forethought  and  carefulness  are  not 
hereditary  but  acquired  traits.  Some 
children  learn  to  be  careful  and 
thoughtful  more  readily  than  others, 
but  all  require  training  in  these  quali- 
ties. A  good  plan  is  to  point  out  to  a 
child,  after  it  has  made  a  mistake,  how 
it  might  have  avoided  the  error  had  it 
noticed  or  duly  considered.  By  fre- 
quently speaking  of  those  times  when  a 
child  has  exercised  forethought,  the 
habit  will  be  encouraged.  Thought  ful- 
ness in  planning,  in  nicely  folding  its 
clothing,  in  picking  up  its  toys,  in  keep- 
ing everything  in  order,  should  be  so 
instilled  as  to  become  habitual.  Chil- 
dren trained  to  think  before  they  speak 
or  act  are  saved  from  many  mistakes. 

Self-Sufficiency 

Many  seem  incapable  of  entertaining 
themselves.  They  must  have  some  ex- 
ternal stimulus — playmates,  friends,  or 
amusements.  Left  alone,  they  are 
wretched.  This  condition  often  leads 
to  questionable  associates,  entertain- 
ments, etc.  Every  child  lacking  in  self- 
sufficiency  should  be  required  to  play, 
read,  and  study  alone  a  part  of  the 


108  Child  Culture 

time.  Later  it  should  be  encouraged 
to  meditate,  and  learn  in  the  school  of 
solitude  the  secret  of  peace  and  content- 
ment, i.  e.y  that  the  ''Kingdom  of 
Heaven''  is  within.  When  this  has  be- 
come the  habitual  state  of  conscious- 
ness, external  conditions  are  of  sec- 
ondary importance. 

Expression 

All  children  should  be  trained  in  the 
art  of  correct  speech,  and  clear,  con- 
cise expression.  Definite  wording  re- 
quires, and  thereby  promotes,  definite 
thinking.  Idle  chatter  should  be  for- 
bidden; but  thoughtful  conversation, 
the  recital  of  instances  and  impressions, 
and  the  free  expressions  of  plans, 
wishes,  emotions,  and  sentiments 
should  be  commended.  When  a  child 
has  attended  church  or  an  entertain- 
ment, or  has  witnessed  any  unusual  oc- 
currence, it  should  be  encouraged  to 
tell  its  impressions.  It  should  first  be 
permitted  to  tell  the  story  in  its  own 
way  without  interruption.  Then  the 
matter  should  be  reviewed,  and  correc- 
tions and  improvements  suggested.  In 
this  way  a  child  will  be  trained  in  per-, 
ception,  memory,  and  the  power  of 
expression. 


special  Directions  109 

Imagination 

Imagination,  or  creative  fancy,  is  the 
highest  power  of  the  human  mind.  It 
should  be  cultivated  in  most  children. 
In  some,  however,  it  is  so  strong  as  to 
cause  them  to  exaggerate.  This  ten- 
dency can  usually  be  overcome  by  call- 
ing a  child's  attention  to  its  misstate- 
ments in  the  presence  of  the  facts. 
Many  children  exaggerate  through  a 
desire  to  excite  approval  or  surprise  in 
others.  Such  should  be  taught  that  the 
exact  truth  is  always  more  interesting 
than  an  enlarged  account.  There  is  a 
wide  difference  between  this  tendency 
to  magnify  the  truth  and  that  decep- 
tion that  arises  from  selfishness  or  a 
weak  conscience.  The  latter  can  be 
eradicated  only  by  persistent  moral 
training;  the  former  is  usually  out- 
grown through  humiliating  experi- 
ences. 

The  Affections 

Law  may  rule  in  courts  of  justice, 
but  love  reigns  in  human  hearts.  All 
of  the  emotions  should  receive  system- 
atic training  from  babyhood.  Every 
emotion  should  be  subject  to  judgment 
and  conscience.  It  is  natural  for  boys 
and  girls  to  have  sweethearts.      But 


110  Child  Culture 

they  should  know  that  these  attach- 
ments spring  from  blind  impulses  that 
must  be  educated  and  controlled.  Be- 
fore the  period  of  adolescence  they 
should  be  taught  the  privileges  and  re- 
straints of  friendships  with  the  oppo- 
site sex.  Boys  should  be  taught  to  re- 
spect all  girls  and  protect  them  as  they 
would  their  sisters.  Girls  should  be 
taught  to  shield  their  boy  friends  from 
improprieties.  They  should  know  that 
straightforward,  aggressive  goodness 
prevents  misunderstandings.  As  a 
rule  it  is  better  for  boys  and  girls  to. 
grow  up  together,  but  they  should  be 
discouraged  from  continuing  the  ex- 
clusive company  of  one.  It  is  easier 
to  direct  the  emotions  of  those  that 
have  the  companionship  of  the  oppo- 
site sex  than  of  those  that  do  not.  The 
girl  that  has  never  been  allowed  to  as- 
sociate with  boys  until  adolescence  is 
prone  to  fall  in  love  with  the  first  young 
man  she  becomes  acquainted  with. 
Boys  denied  the  refining  influence  of 
girls  are  likely  to  be  uncouth  or 
immoral. 

Good  Manners 

True  politeness  is  true  kindness  deli- 
cately expressed.     A  courteous,  agree- 


special  Directions  111 

able  manner  means  much  in  the  strug- 
gles of  life.  A  gruff,  rude,  or  boorish 
exterior  closes  the  door  of  opportunity 
for  many  truly  good  men.  The  lady 
that  is  gracious  and  kind  to  all  becomes 
a  favorite.  ^'Company  manners"  are 
usually  insincere  and  fail  at  a  critical 
moment.  The  artificiality  and  affecta- 
tion of  much  that  passes  for  etiquette 
is  not  worth  embodying  in  the  mind  of 
a  child.  But  politeness  that  comes  from 
a  true  appreciation  of  the  fitness  of 
things,  a  right  regard  for  the  happiness 
of  others,  and  a  due  self-respect,  fills 
an  important  place  in  character  build- 
ing. Good  breeding  is  distinctively  a 
product  of  the  home;  it  is  not  an  occa- 
sional effort  or  company  drill,  but  a 
thing  of  daily  practice,  prompted  by 
honest  motives  and  a  frank  expression 
of  the  inner  life.  The  well-bred  child 
goes  out  into  the  world  safeguarded  by 
self-respect  and  a  clear  concept  of 
proprieties. 

The  Sense  of  Honor 

"An  honest  man  is  the  noblest  work 
of  God."  The  paramount  need  of  hu- 
manity is  moral  conviction.  The  sense 
of  honor  should  be  cultivated  in  all 


112  Child  Culture 

children.  To  do  this,  parents  should 
be  strictly  honest  with  them.  The  com- 
mon custom  of  deceiving  children,  and 
practicing  little  deceptions  in  their 
presence,  educates  them  in  dishonesty. 
A  child  should  be  placed  on  its  honor 
and  encouraged  to  be  faithful  and 
straightforward  in  all  ways.  If  it  is 
untruthful  and  afterward  confesses,  it 
should  not  be  scolded  or  punished,  lest 
it  be  driven  to  further  deception  in  self- 
protection.  The  better  way  is  to  for- 
give the  present  error,  thank  the  child 
for  its  frankness,  and  give  such  sugges- 
tions as  will  prevent  a  repetition. 

Kindness  and  Forgiveness 

A  kind,  forgiving  spirit  is  one  of  the 
richest  gifts  from  God  to  man.  The 
child  has  a  natural  capacity  for  receiv- 
ing and  expressing  this  spirit.  This 
capacity  should  be  increased,  and  its 
expression  encouraged  by  simple  stories 
of  the  birds  of  the  forest,  the  little  ani- 
mals of  the  fields  and  woods,  and  of 
the  kind  ways,  words  and  deeds  of  good 
children.  When  a  child  has  been 
wronged,  it  should  be  taught  to  for- 
give, to  return  good  for  evil ;  not  sim- 
ply because  duty  demands  it,  but  be- 


special  Directions  113 

cause  this  is  the  way  to  grow  into  that 
largeness  of  life  that  brings  peace  and 
happiness.  The  little  one  that  is  al- 
lowed to  be  unkind  to  pets  or  play- 
mates, or  to  harbor  the  spirit  of  re- 
venge, becomes  selfish  and  severe. 

Love's  Way  to  Victory 

The  time  has  come  to  conclude  these 
heart  talks,  and  love  pleads  for  the 
last  word.  That  Jesus  Christ  may  be 
glorified,  permit  me,  dear  Reader,  to 
urge  you  to  see  the  young  child  as  a 
dweller  in  the  Eden  of  innocence,  des- 
tined by  heredity  to  pursue  the  ways  of 
desire  into  sin,  except  it  be  born  anew 
and  come  to  live  by  Divine  grace.  See, 
also,  that  the  way  of  attainment  is  by 
awakening  right  affections  through 
right  teaching.  From  right  affections 
come  right  volitional  impulses.  Seek- 
ing truth  for  truth's  sake  leads  life  in 
love's  highways,  and  produces  impres- 
sions on  mind  and  heart  that  bring  the 
soul  into  harmony  with  the  Divine  will. 
Thus  you  tell  a  child  the  facts  about  a 
flower;  how  the  little  seed  waited  in 
the  cold  ground  until  the  spring-time; 
how  the  warmth  of  the  sun  kissed  it 
and  the  life  came  forth;  how  it  grew 


114  Child  Culture 

day  by  day,  gathering  nourishment 
from  the  earth,  inbreathing  carbon 
from  the  air  until,  through  patience 
and  obedience,  it  blossomed  in  beauty 
and  filled  the  air  with  fragrance.  This 
simple  story  of  truth  will  awaken  love 
for  the  flower,  and  bring  the  child  into 
a  tender,  considerate  attitude  toward  it. 
By  this  process  right  impulses  may  be 
produced  toward  all  things,  laws,  cus- 
toms, commandments,  institutions,  and 
persons.  This  is  the  whole  secret  of 
righteous  growth.  This  is  the  grace 
method  of  creating  the  motives  and 
determining  the  conduct  of  a  noble 
Christian  character. 


APPENDIX 

Personal  Purity 

"My  people  perish  for  lack  of  knowl- 
edge." Ignorance  will  not  perpetuate  in- 
nocence. True  virtue  is  born  of  intelli- 
gence and  positive  goodness.  It  is  crime 
to  allow  children  to  enter  the  adolescent 
period  without  proper  sex  instruction;  but 
knowledge  alone  is  insufficient.  Chastity 
is  of  the  heart.  A  bitter  fountain  cannot 
give  forth  sweet  water.  A  pure  regenerate 
heart  gives  rise  to  pure  desires  and  chaste 
affections,  but  an  unregenerate  heart  will 
send  forth  impure  impulses,  which  are  sure 
to  find  expression  in  thought  and  conduct. 
Therefore  a  cleansed.  Spirit-filled  heart  is 
the  only  effective  safe-guard. 

The  discussion  of  vice  propagates  it. 
Lewd  suggestions  give  rise  to  abnormal 
desires.  Experience  proves  that  the  more 
children  think  and  talk  about  sex  problems,' 
the  more  likely  they  are  to  become  per- 
verted. Vice  may  be  learned  from  others, 
but  it  frequently  results  from  abnormal 
physical  conditions  or  hereditary  tenden- 
cies. Inchastity  is  promoted  by  unclean- 
liness,  and  by  the  use  of  stimulants,  condi-i 
ments  and  too  much  meat  or  sweets. 

Little  chlidren  should  be  taught  that  they 
are  never  alone;  that  the  great  loving  Father 
sees  and  knows  every  act  and  thought;  that 
it  is  wrong  and  wicked  to  purposely  think, 
desire,  or  do  anything  they  would  be 
ashamed  to  tell  Papa  and  Mamma.  Each 
child  should  early  receive  plain,  clear  teach- 

lis 


116  Child  Culture 

ing  about  the  beginning  of  living  organisms 
as  a  part  of  simple  nature  studies.  Later 
they  should  receive  private,  confidential  in- 
struction regarding  sex  hygiene,  approach-  • 
ing  adolescence,  and  the  relation  of  the 
creative  principle  to  growth  and  vigor  of 
body  and  mind.  This  instruction  should  be 
adapted  to  the  individual  child's  disposition 
and  needs.  What  is  proper  and  necessary 
for  one  may  be  out  of  place  or  harmful  to 
another. 

Some  authors  advise  waiting  until  a  child 
asks  questions  on  these  subjects  before  giv- 
ing information.  Experience  proves  this 
plan  to  be  dangerous.*  Many  children  are 
too  sensitive  to  ask  their  parents,  and  re- 
ceive from  companions  a  morbid  impression 
of  the  whole  subject.  Few  will  ask  until 
the  awakening  of  the  sex  instinct,  when  it  is 
often  too  late  to  protect  them  from  first 
mistakes.  Every  child  should  be  trained 
to  hate  inchastity,  and  to  delight  in  per- 
sonal purity,  positive  virtue  and  a  clean 
life. 

*  It  is  easy  to  show  a  child  of  four  how  the 
seeds  of  baby  flowers  are  formed.  Then  to  ex- 
plain how  all  living  things  grow  from  seeds ;  how 
the  eggs  from  which  birds  and  animals  grow  are 
but  another  form  of  seeds.     And  from  this  to  ex- 

Elain  where  birdies,  bunnies  and  babies  come  from  ; 
ow  bird's  eggs  hatch  in  a  nest,  but  that  bunnies 
and  babies  have  their  nests  inside  the  Mamma's 
body  until  old  enough  to  live  outside.  Some  of 
the  better  books  on  this  subject  are  :  "The  Spark 
of  Life,"  by  Margaret  W.  Morley  ;  "Four  Epochs 
of  Life,"  by  Dr.  Elizabeth  Hamilton  Muncie ; 
"How  Shall  I  Tell  My  Child,"  by  Mrs.  Wood- 
Allen  Chapman ;  "Life's  Beginnings,"  and  other 
books  by  Dr.  Winfield  Scott  Hall.  The  author's 
book,  "The  New  Man,"  contains  spiritual  teaching 
relative  to  sex,  of  vital  importance,  published  in 
no  other  work.  Any  of  these  books  may  be  or- 
dered from  the  Riddell  Publishers,  7522  Garrison 
Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 


Published  Lectures  and  Books 

By 

NEWTON  N.  RIDDELL 


Method  —  The  Riddell  Lectures  —  Complete 
text  of  nine  lectures  on  Applied  Psy- 
chology and  Vital  Christianity.  320 
pages,   cloth,   postpaid,   $1.50. 

The  Psychology  of  Success — Discourses  on  a 
Winning  Personality,  Character  Building, 
Aids  to  Success  and  Human  Nature 
Studies.   320  pages,  cloth,  postpaid,  $1.50. 

Heredity  and  Prenatal  Culture — A  non-tech- 
nical work  on  Eace  Improvement,  Mar- 
riage and  Parentage,  Many  Valuable 
Facts  and  Figures.  360  pages,  cloth, 
postpaid,  $2.00. 

Child  Culture  by  Suggestion — A  hand-book 
for  parents  and  teachers,  giving  methods 
of  Eliminating  Faults,  Embodying  Vir- 
tues, and  Developing  a  Child  into  a 
Strong  Moral  Character.  130  pages, 
cloth,  postpaid,  65c. 

The  New  Man — The  Secret  of  Power,  Ways 
of  Attainment,  and  Twentieth  Century 
Problems.  125  pages,  cloth,  postpaid, 
50c,  paper  25c. 

SexVice  and  Bible  Study — A  New  Plan  of 
Personal  Evangelism  Through  the  Spirit 
and  the  Word.  126  pages,  cloth,  post- 
paid, 50c,  paper  25c. 

THE  EIDDELL  PUBLISHEES 

Mailing    Department, 

7522   Garrison  ^  Ave.,   Chicago,  III. 


THE 

PSYCHOLOGY 

OF 

SUCCESS 

AND 

Human  Nature  Studies 

This  book  opens  with  Mr.  Riddell's 
most  helpful  lecture,  *'The  Psychology  of 
Success."  It  is  pre-eminently  practical. 
It  tells  how  to  acquire  the  elements  of 
success  and  develop  a  strong,  positive, 
winning  personality.  It  gives  one  hundred 
practical  suggestions  on  the  Choice  of 
Pursuits,  Business  Methods,  Salesmanship 
and  Advertising,  Personal  Aids  to  Success, 
and  the  Problems  of  the  Professional  Man, 
It  contains  a  series  of  interesting  Human 
Nature  Studies,  dealing  with  the  Origin 
and  Nature  of  Man,  Old  and  New  Psy- 
chology, Tempermental  and  Constitu- 
tional Differences,  the  Factors  of  Mind 
and  the  Processes  of  Mentation.  This 
book  is  of  priceless  value  to  all  who  would 
understand  human  nature  or  make  the 
most  of  life  and  its  opportunities. 

320  Pages.    Cloth.    Price,  Postpaid,  $1.50. 

RIDDELL  PUBLISHING  CO. 

7522  Lakeside  Terrace 
CHICAGO,  ILL. 


HEREDITY 

The  Cream  of  Twenty  Chautauqua  Lec- 
tures on  Heredity,  Prenatal  Culture, 
Psychology,  Brain  Building 
and  Soul  Growth. 

By  ISEYi TONN.  BIDDELL 

This  Work  is  Not  Only  Anthentio  but  Bioh 
in  Orifirinal  Matter. 

Mr.  Hidden  is  a  recognized  authority  on 
Heredity.  In  gathering  the  subject  matter 
toj;  this  book  and  his  lectures  he  has  con- 
sulted every  meritorious  woik  on  the  subject 
published  in  the  English  language.  He  trav- 
eled constantly  for  fifteen  years,  visiting 
nearly  all  of  the  principal  cities  on  the 
continent,  consulting  with  hundreds  of  edu- 
cators, prison  wardens,  physicians  and  de- 
tectives. He  personally  examined  the  psy- 
chology and  heredity  of  several  thousand 
persons,  including  nearly  ten  thousand  chil- 
dren, representing  all  classes  and  conditions, 
over  five  thousand  convicts,  and  as  many 
more  Insane  and  feeble-minded  patients. 
Heredity  ExplaJned. 

Mr.  Riddell  reduces  all  the  laws,  facts 
and  phenomena  of  reproduction  and  heredity 
to  a  definite  science  and  explains  them  in 
language  so  simple  that  a  child  can  com- 
prehend them. 

The  Book  Is  Well  Made. 

It  contains  350  large  octavo  pages,  6x9, 
weight  2  lbs.  It  is  printed  from  new  type 
on  heavy  rag  paper  of  good  quality.  It  Is 
substantially  bound  in  silk  finished  cloth, 
with  gold  stamp  on  side  and  back. 

Over  1200  Marginal  References. 

Every  one  of  its  1,164  paragraphs  contains 
a  concise  statement  of  a  fact,  law  or  propo- 
sition and  is  supplied  with  one  or  more  legal 
side  heads.  The  work  is  fully  indexed. 
Making  it  the  most  complete  book  ever  pub- 
IliEAied  on  the  subjects  treated. 

Price  by  Mali  or  Express,  Postpaid,  $2.00. 

RIDDELL  PUBLISHING  Ca 

7522  Lakeside  Terraca 
CHICAGO,  ILL. 


Commento  of  the  Press. 

"A  profoundly  interesting  and  instructive 
book,  treating  of  subjects  clearly  and  mod- 
estly. *  *  *  If  millions,  instead  of  thou- 
sands, could  take  in  its  lessons  the  world  would 
be  benefited." — The  Inter-Ocean, 

"It  is  evident  from  a  perusal  of  this  volume 
that  the  author  is  a  close  student  of  nature. 
The  practical  truths  contained  in  his  book 
make  it  a  valuable  addition  to  any  library." — 
New  England  Journal  of  Education. 

"Parents  and  ;>hose  who  may  become  parents, 
will  find  much  in  this  book  which  will  command 
their  attention." — The  Congregationalist, 

"It  is  written  with  great  discretion  and  much 
tact  and  presents  the  subject  in  an  interesting 
and  instructive  way.-— iVeio  Orleans  Daily 
Picayune. 

"The  book  is  rehable,  up-to-date  and  easy  of 
comprehension." — Union  Signal, 

"It  has  evidently  been  prepared  with  much 
carefulness  of  observation  and  of  statement, 
Infinite  misery  might  be  prevented  if  the  facts 
given  were  commonly  understood  and  duly 
heeded." — Chicago  Tribune. 

"The  author's  ideas  are  presented  in  a  clear 
and  logical  manner,  with  an  earnestness  which 
should  carry  with  it  the  lessons  the  work  is 
intended  to  convey." — Toledo  Blade. 

"The  author's  conclusions  are  drawn  from 
a  wide  range  of  facts  coming  under  his  own 
observations,  both  of  well  born  and  ill  born 
children." — The  Outlook. 

"It  is  a  work  in  which  any  student  of  human 
nature,  pastor,  educator  or  professional  man 
will  find  unlimited  source  of  desired  informa- 
tion."— Denver  Republican. 

"He  is  considered  the  foremost  authority 
in  the  country  on  Heredity,  Psychology  and 
kindred  topics.  His  work  abounds  in  first  hand 
facts  and  original  matter." — Omaha  World- 
Herald. 

"It  is  a  work  of  mature  thought  and  cultured 
style." — Medical  Science. 

"It  should  be  read  by  every  man  and  woman 
in  America.  Its  style  is  clear,  untechnical  and 
entertaining  as  it  is  instructive.  The  book  is 
a  model  of  the  printer's  art." — Human  Nature. 


METHOD 

THE  RIDDELL  LECTURES 

Complete  text  of  the  following  lectures  as 
dven  at  Chautauqua  Assemblies  and  under  the 
auspices   of   Ministerial   Associations : 

No.    1.  Brain  Building  and  Soul  Growth. 

No.   2.  Man,   Mind,   and   Divine   Healing. 

No.    3.  Psychic  and  Spiritual  Phenomena. 

No.   4.  Science   and   Religion. 

No.   5.  Man's  Fall,  Christ's  Atonement. 

No.   6.  How  Man  May  Become  In-Christed. 

No.   7.  Law,  Prayer,  Faith,  Miracles. 

No.   8.  Service,   the  Christian  Clinic. 

No.   9.  Christ    and    Civic    Problems. 

No.  10.  The  Letter  and  the  Spirit. 

INNER  TEACHING 

These  Lectures  Contain  Teaching  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  on  Regeneration,  Vicarious  Atone- 
ment, the  Blood  of  Jesus  Christ;  the  Genera- 
tion of  Life  in  the  Kingdom  of  God;  the  Law 
of  Special  Providences;  Grace,  Faith,  and 
other  Christian  Mysteries  of  Vital  Importance 
to  Truth  Seekers,  Christians  and  Christianity. 

Pacific  Christian  Advocate:  It  is  a  rare 
man  who  can  take  such  profound  questions  as 
those  discussed  by  Mr.  Riddell  and  make  them 
so  entrancingly  interesting  that  a  child  can  un- 
derstand and  appreciate  them.  He  clears  up 
difficulties,  he  illumines  the  dark  places,  and 
brings  the  soul  consciously  in  communion  with 
God.  We  commend  him  to  our  people  every- 
where. 

320    Pages,    Cloth.      $1.50.    Postpsud* 


The  New  Man 

OR 

Kni$litsoftlieTwentiet&  Century 

By  Newton  N.  Biddell 

A  Twenty-Flve  Cent  Book  of  One  Hundred  Paitt 

that  has  Transformed  the  Lives  of  Ten 

Thousand  Men  and  Put  Half  a 

Million  to  Thinkine. 

One  Hundred  Thousand  Men 

Have  attended  Mr.  Riddell's  lecture  on  "The 
New  Man,"  of  which  this  book  is  an  en- 
larged Tersion.  It  is  uniformly  conceded  to 
be  the  most  refined.  Instructive  and  inspir- 
ing lecture  on  the  subject  of  man's  creative 
forces  before  the  public.  No  man  can  listen 
to  or  read  it  without  being  materially  bene- 
fited. It  was  published  at  the  request  of 
thousands  of  professional  men  and  is  being 
circulated  for  the  good  it  may  do. 

EVERY  BRAIN  WORKER  IN  AMERICA 
SHOULD  HEAR  IT. — Judge  John  Maxwell 

It  moved  Grand  Rapids  as  no  other  lee- 
ture  ever  has. — J.  K.  Johnson. 

)  Words  are  inadequate  to  express  the 
moral  and  spiritual  value  of  this  lecture. — = 
W,  E.  Edmonds,  Qen.  Sec.  Y.  M.  C  A., 
Jacksonville,  III, 

I  never  listened  to  such  a  story  from  hu» 
man  lips.  If  Andrew  Carnegie  should  en- 
dow  this  lecture  with  $100,000,  and  send 
Prof.  Riddell  forth,  the  inspired  prophet 
to  the  masses,  he  would  do  more  good  than 
by  building  twenty  libraries. — Rev.  Ohas. 
W.  Whorralh  D.D. 

Publishers'  GuaLrsLivtee. 

Buy  it  at  once.  Read  it :  if  not  satisfle| 
with  your  bargain,  return  the  book  in  sala- 
ble condition  and  we  will  refunJi  youi= 
money. 

Price  by  Mail,  Postpaid,  120  Pages, 
Cloth  50c,  Paper  25c. 

RIDDELL  PUBLISHING  CO. 

7522  Lakeside  Terrace 
CHICAQO,  ILL. 


SERVICE 

AND  BIBLE  STUDY 


\  New  Plan  of  Personal  Evangelism 
Through  the  Spirit  and  the  Word 


How   to   Vitalize    the    Church    and    Increase 
Its    Membership    and    Efficiency. 

What  the  Bible  Teaches  About  God — Father, 
Son,  Holy  Spirit;  Man — Innocent,  Degener- 
ate, Regenerate;  Satan,  Sin,  Death,  Hell;  Re- 
demption, Atonement,  Forgiveness,  Regener- 
ation; Justification,  Grace,  Faith,  Prayer, 
Works;  the  Kingdom  of  God;  the  Coming  of 
the   King. 

How   to   Become   a   Christian. 

The  Essentials  of  Conversion — Repentance, 
Belief,  Confession,  Baptism.  The  Way  of  Dis- 
cipleship — The  New  Inheritance,  Self-renunci- 
ation, Living  by  Grace,  Abiding  in  Christ. 

God's  Answers  to  Satan's  Suggestions. 

Convicting  the  Unsaved — The  Command- 
ments, Promises,  Assurances.  The  Divine 
Right  of  Christians,  Bible  Texts  for  Every 
Need. 

120  Pages,  Cloth,  50c;  Paper,  25c. 

For  all  standard  works,  including  Mr.  Rid* 
delPs    books,    address 

THE  RIDDELL  PUBLISHING  CO. 

7522  Garrison  Ave.,  Chicago,  111.,  U.  S.  A. 

Plea9«»  remit  by  P.  O.  money  order,  or  add  10c  «B" 
change  to  personal  check* 


BEEKELET  ^^BAEY, 


m^ 


^-  YA  0793 


355465 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


1 


